
aass__EA?-2 
Book Jia 



^-B? 



AMERICAN PATRIOTISM; 



OR, 



MEMOIRS OF "COMMON MEN." 



BY 

LEONARD BROWN, 

AUTHOR OF "poems OF THE PRAIRIES.'' 



» 



DES MOINES: 
PUBLISHED BY REDHEAD AND WELLSLAGER, 

41 Court Avenue. 

1869. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18S9, by 

Leonard Brown, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of 

Iowa. 






• • • .• 



RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: 
faiNTED BY H. 0. HOUGHTON AND COMPAST. 



rc 



§■ 



O To 

MY ONLY BROTHER, 

IIARYEY BROWN, 

WHO ENLISTED AS A PRIVATE SOLDIER AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 
WAR, AND SERVED IN THAT CAPACITY UNTIL ITS CLOSE, 

A VETERAN MEMBER OF COMPANY D, SECOND 
IOWA INFANTRY VOLUNTEERS, 

AS A TOKEN OF MY LOVE, 

IS INSCRIBED. 



PREFACE. 



This book is, properly, a monument in memory of de- 
ceased soldiers of Des Moines and Polk County, Iowa. 
It will undoubtedly be considered a novelty, though it is 
not a novel. The tears and sorrows of our people during 
the years of war were real tears and real sorrows. The 
heroes of this war were real heroes. Do we delight to 
read of imaginary heroes, and weep if they are repre- 
sented as having met with misfortune, when there are 
thousands who yielded up their lives fighting heroically in 
defense of our country, whom we are forgetting ? They 
were our neighbors, and friends, and brothers, and sons. 
Let the tears of grateful memory moisten our cheeks for 
them. Let us annually strew flowers on their hallowed 
graves. Let us preserve a careful record of their deeds 
and patriotic words — a monument of their love of God, 
and home, and country. Will it not be considered a 
sacred look by all true patriots ? Will it not be esteemed 
a rich inheritance by the children of these martyrs ? Is it 
not in harmony with the character of our institutions — 
this book about "common men" — in our "land of the 
people"? Presenting a true picture of the heart world 
in the breasts of the people, it exhibits in a clear light 
their patriotism and religion — the pure and holy motives 



VI PREFACE. 

that led them to take up arms in defense of the insulted 
and torn flag of our country. Foremost amongst the 
heroes of the war are those who, with hearts full of love 
of God and country, marched to the front with muskets on 
their shoulders. 

This volume comprises names of men from nearly every 
State in the Union, and it is not, therefore, entirely of 
local interest ; but it is truly national. Should it not 
attract and interest readers in other States and sections of 
our country ; if it be deemed worthy of preservation here 
in the centre of beautiful Iowa, I shall be satisfied. It 
contains descriptions of all the great battles fought by the 
armies of the West, given in letters written by soldiers 
who afterwards lost their lives in the service. 

The writing and publishing of this, is by many looked 
upon from a financial point of view, as a " wild adventure," 
for it has cost me, in time, two and a half years of the 
most valuable part of my life, and I have also risked in it 
my home and all I possess. Will the people sustain me 
in this undertaking ? I confidently believe they will. 
Though the worst come, I thank God I am yet a young 
man, and live in the richest portion of God's heritage on 
earth. I have known only poverty and toil from n^y child- 
hood up, and if I fail in this and lose all, I can support my 
family at the forge, or at the plough, or in the school-room, 
if the same blessed Father, who has always been my 
Friend, shall still vouchsafe to me good health ; but if this 
work prove successful, I shall soon publish another volumes 
entitled " The Rise and Growth of our Present 
Liberties — A Series of Lectures to Young Men;" 



PREFACE. Vll 

and I hope that I may yet be enabled to complete a poet- 
ical work I have in contemplation entitled " America." 

I will here take occasion to extend grateful acknowledo-- 
ments to E. R. Clapp, N. T. Vorse, and B. F. Allen for 
the trust they have reposed in me. A host of friends have 
laid me under obligation : G. A. Stewart, P. M. Cassady, 
Thomas Mitchell, F. R. West, H. H. Griffiths, A. G. Studer, 
J. C. Jordan, Lewis Jones, J. S. Clarkson, George Sneer, 
William Porter, Redhead & Wellslager, Mills & Co., H. 
Monroe, Laird Brothers, R. W. Sypher, A. Newton, William 
H. McHenry, J. M. Dixon, Samuel Gray, Hoyt Sherman, 
William De Ford, J. A. Nash, James Smith, A. J. Stevens, 
F. W. Palmer, G. W. Cleveland — but space fails me to 
name all. To this whole community I am truly grateful 
for encouragement in the past. 

Leonard Brown. 

Des Moines, Sept. 1, 1868. 



CONTEXTS. 

¥— 

PART I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

PART IL 

MEMOIRS OF DECEASED SOLDIERS. 

PART III. 
INDEX AND RECORD. 

CONCLUSION. 
APPENDIX, 



PART I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Solon, the philosopher and lawgiver, when asked by 
Croesus, the richest of kings, " Whom of all men he es- 
teemed most happy," replied, " Tellus the Athenian, a 
poor man who lived a virtuous life, and died fighting gal- 
lantly in the service of his country." When we think of 
the brave men who left their homes at the call of their 
country, and laid down their lives in the field and in the 
hospital, that others might enjoy the blessings of liberty 
and free government, we are filled with gratitude to them 
and love for all. We think the better of humanity. These 
left happy homes of love, and dared danger, privations, and 
death, because their hearts told them to go. The proud 
buyers and sellers of men had struck down the flag of our 
fathers. The time will never come when a traitor can with 
impunity drag that flag in the dust. It has been conse- 
crated by the blood of too many noble men ; it has been 
borne in triumph on too many fields of honor ; too many 
brave hearts have been wrapped in its folds. The history 
of these is the history of all born in the North. Accus- 
tomed from childhood to regard with veneration the name 
of Washington, they were taught respect for law, and to 
love their country ; not their particular State, which was no 
more to them than the particular county or village in which 
they were born, but the great land for which Marion fought 
and Warren bled. 

God and good men estimate human worth by the intent 
of the heart, and not by the brilliancy of the achievement. 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

Washington would have been Washington in heaven, had 
he died in defense of his country under Braddbek when he 
was a boy. Grant is a great man, but he is only one of 
the million : nor is he deserving of more praise than a pri- 
vate soldier who enlisted at the first call ; faced death at 
Donelson, and Shiloh, and Corinth, and Yicksburg ; served 
his term of three years ; became a veteran ; stood always 
at his post, and was honorably discharged at the close of the 
war. There were thousands and tens of thousands in the 
ranks just as gifted by nature and as highly educated as 
any that ever held commission. The President of the 
United States, or the Governor of a State, by signing a 
slip of paper cannot give greatness to any man. It is a 
gift of God bestowed upon millions who have lived and 
died unknown. The history of the " common man " is the 
only true American history. Our fathers were " commoji 
men." They felled trees in the forest, built log-heaps, 
opened a way in the wilderness with the strong arm and 
the axe and gun. If we look back but a day, our great 
general or statesman is the hard working farmer boy, or 
" Black Dan " that '" waters travellers' horses at his father's 
tavern." Suppose " Black Dan " has risen to be the Hon. 
Daniel Webster of Massachusetts. He is an American citi- 
zen. This is his title of honor. 

Need I speak of the propriety of this memorial wreath ? 
If we are so ungrateful as to forget those who died for us, 
may not young men in the future justly say in time of war : 
" Those who went forward and gave their lives to put down 
the Rebellion were buried in the earth and forgotten. 
Had they remained at home they might have enjoyed long 
lives and many comforts — have amassed riches and been 
respected ; but they went at the call of their country, 
fought, and fell. No one thinks of them now. No monu- 
ment has been erected to their memory. We will not risk 
our lives in defense of an ungrateful people." There is nothing 
which so powerfully influences the mind of the brave soldier 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

as the thought that his deeds will be remembered. In the 
future, as in the past, young men, in time of national peril, 
will flock to the standard of their country if they know 
that they shall receive the thanks and gratitude of their 
fellow countrymen when the strife is over, or, if stricken 
down in battle, be gratefully remembered. The love of a 
good name leads to the grandest achievements. It nerves 
the arm of the patriot as he bears the flag over the ram- 
parts of the enemy. " If I fall, I shall be remembered," 
he whispers to himself as he faces the leaden missives of 
death ; " my countrymen will bless my name." Freedom 
must live, and the brave be rewarded. 

One great lesson which it is hoped that this book will 
impart to the young is the value of a good name, " A good 
name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving 
favor rather than silver and gold." " Virtue," says an 
ancient writer, " seeks no other reward for its labors and 
its dangers, beyond that of praise and renown ; and," he says, 
" if that' be denied to it, what reason is there why, in so 
brief a life as is allotted to us, we should impose such la- 
bors on ourselves ? Certainly, if the mind had no anticipa- 
tions of posterity, and if it were to confine all its thoughts 
within the same limits as those by which the space of our 
lives is bounded, it would neither break itself with such 
cares and sleepless anxiety, nor would it so often have to 
fight for its very life. At present, there is a certain virtue 
in every good man, which night and day stirs up the mind 
with the stimulus of glory, and reminds it that all mention 
of our names will not cease at the time of our lives." 

But some will say, " So many patriots have fallen in the 
bloody Rebellion, all cannot be remembered." It is true, 
the " world itself could not contain the books that might 
be written " concerning them. I look about me at home ; I 
take the companions of my youth that now lie in martyrs' 
graves, and bid them come up, like Samuel, and talk to the 
hearts of the people. Is their story stale and unprofitable ? 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

Awiiy with your novels ! Away with your trash ! What is 
left of these on earth but their works and the story of their 
lives ? Their bodies lie in the ground, but their memory 
will be ever green in the hearts of the grateful. Do we 
count their works but little ? What more can a man do 
than lay down his life for his friends ? Do you say that 
this book will be interesting only at home, and to a few — 
the million will not read it ? We read of De Kalb, and Jas- 
per, and Newton. They held no high rank in the army. I 
say that their names will be known and loved when many 
a proud general is forgotten. The widow's mite was not 
thought unworthy of attention by the Saviour ; nor will the 
people deem the boy who went forth gallantly and laid his 
life upon the altar of his country, unworthy of a tear of 
remembrance. 

May the youth of our loved land ever prefer duty and 
honor to life. It is no fiction of the poet, but truth, as the 
heart of every true patriot must testify, that " It is sweet 
to die for one's native country." 

" How sleep the brave M^ho sink to rest 
By all their countrj-'s wishes blest ? 
When Spring with dewy fingers cold 
Returns to deck their hallowed mould, 
She there shall dress a sweeter sod 
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 
By fairy hands their knell is rung ; 
By forms unseen their dirge is sung; 
There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, 
To bless the turf that wraps their clay, 
And Freedom shall awhile repair 
To dwell a weeping hermit there." 

To parents who mourn sons departed ; to the orphan and 
the widow sorrowing, that I could speak a grateful word ; 
that my pen could whisper consolation ! 

" The people are like the waves of Ocean ; like the 
leaves of woody Morven, they pass away in the rustling 
blast, and other leaves lift their green heads on high. Did 
thy beauty last, O Ryno ? Stood the strength of car-borne 
Oscar ? Fingal himself departed ! " 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

What are a few years of lengthened life ? The day of 
death must come,' and those that die young, are they the 
unfortunate ? The good these accomplished is more than 
that accomplished by sages. A sacrifice was demanded 
for freedom, and their blood was shed. Could Jesus have 
accomplished more for man than he did, had he lived on 
earth a thousand years ? He saved the world in his 
death ; these saved their country. We feel proud that ou|^ 
ancestors met the British defiantly in 1776. Some of us 
boast of what our own forefathers did. We are proud if 
they poured out their hearts' blood on the fields of Mon- 
mouth, Saratoga, Lexington, or Savannah. Does not the 
aged patriot to-day proudly say, " My son died for his coun- 
try ? " Men of the Revolution ! you were brave ; but men 
have lived after you inheriting your blood and your valor. 
They fought at Donelson, and Shiloh, and Vicksburg, and 
Corinth, and Chattanooga, and Allatoona, and on the bloody 
fields of Virginia. Their white bones lie on the plains of 
the South. The liberty that you first purchased with your 
blood, has been preserved by the valor and blood of these. 
Your country has grown from thirteen to thirty-seven 
States, firmly bound together, and your flag floats triumph- 
ant to-day, its folds unrent, reflecting the beams of the 
noonday sun, bright like the glory of the Republic. 

But the bereaved derive their truest consolation from our 
holy religion, — " Looking unto Jesus, the author and fin- 
isher of our faith ; who, for the joy that was set before him, 
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at 
the right hand of the throne of God." 
Des Moines, A fay, 1866. 



HONORS TO THE DEAD. 

As a further introduction to this work, I deem it appro- 
priate to insert here the following report of the ceremonies 
and addresses, at the decoration of soldiers' graves in the 
cemetery at Des Moines, May 30th, 1868. The report of 
these exercises was written by J. S. Clarkson, Esq., associ- 
ate editor of the " Iowa State Register," and it was pub- 
lished in the columns of that paper. May 31, 1868. 

DES MOINES AT THE GRAVES OF ITS SOLDIERS. 

" The outpouring of the people yesterday to attend the 
decoration of the soldiers' 'graves, and the manner in 
which these tributes to the buried braves were rendered, 
were complimentary alike to the remembered and the re- 
membering. At two o'clock the procession formed in the 
order marked by the programme published yesterday, and 
with martial and brass horn music at the head, playing 
under craped pennons, it threaded its way to Woodland 
Cemetery. Some idea of the throng can be gained from 
the statement that the procession was very nearly a mile 
long. In the fore front was a gun squad of soldiers, dressed 
in uniform, and back of them a sergeant's squad of artil- 
lery, with a six-pounder, — then followed a long line of 
people on foot, then citizens in carriages, and on horseback, 
etc. The Governor, his staff, the State officers, Judges and 
officers of the Supreme Court, and the Mayor and Common 
Council of the city, were in the procession. Well up in 
front was a banner with the names of the deceased soldiers, 
whose graves were to be decorated, inscribed upon it ; and 
close to it the war-christened colors of Co. D, 2d Iowa 
Infantry. General Crocker's horse, with his trappings of 



HONORS TO THE DEAD. 9 

iar graced with wreaths of flowers, champed his bits and 
ci^rveted his way along in the procession, attracting much 
attention. 

" Upon arriving at the ground, and after an eloquent in- 
vdcation to the throne of divine grace by the Rev. Mr. De 
Forest, and a fine operatic selection by Collard's Brass 
B^id, the ceremonies of decoration began. Eight or ten 
litfe girls, robed in white and artless in innocence, with 
ba^ets of flowers visited each grave. First flinging un- 
fasiened blossoms over the green sward of the grave, form- 
ingl^a brilliant floral carpet, they placed upon the foot a 
bouWiet, and at the head garlanded a wreath over each of 
the twenty-eight martyrs to liberty sleeping in that city 
of tie dead. Quietly, sweetly, beautifully did the little 
maidns perform their decorating work ; and if angels ever 
comedown to earth, their wings surely hovered in benedic- 
tion aer the uncovered heads of those guileless children, 
strewiW the flowers of affection and remembrance over 
the grimes of dead heroes. Fittingly designated were those 
lovely Wldren, and more fit than all others were their 
trembliW little hands to scatter floral tributes above the 
dead he^es of the country. 

" Folliying the children and the flowers, was the gun 
squad of \oldier boys, all of whom have been baptized in 
the bloodmd smoke of war. Over the graves they fired 
the volleyiwith which soldiers are laid to rest. Under the 
command o Capt. Davis, the squad did finely — remarka- 
bly so, con^rlering that they were picked at random from 
the veteran i)f the service. 

" During \e occurrence of these ceremonies, the artil- 
lery, under lapt. Wright, was firing minute guns in the 
distance. 

'• After the inclusion of the decoration, which was wit- 
nessed througiVit by the entire crowd with sad, almost 
funereal-like at^tion, the concourse moved to the stand to 
listen to the speaes of the occasion. AVith a fine air from 



10 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

the band, and an admirable song from the glee club, ad- 
dresses began. We have procured copies of all delivered 
save that of Hon. Dan. 0. Finch, and we should like to 
publish his touchingly eloquent remarks, if we had them. 
Below we give the others. 

ADDRESS OF JUDGE WRIGHT. 

" * I accept the lesson taught here and elsewhere this lay 
as a good omen for the perpetuity and integrity of the 
Union. The American people, though sincere and eariest 
in their patriotism, and devoted in their love and afec- 
tion for the brave dead, do not, I fear, as a rule, give aiffi- 
cient evidence of their sincerity, their devotion, by outvard 
visible acts. The scene before us is of significant inport, 
indicating that as the years roll on, we still remenber 
our country, and those who offered up their lives in is de- 
fense. The living with the dead, flowers and teas, the 
tolling bells — all these tell but too plainly, speak m'St elo- 
quently of our love for and devotion to those who lif buried 
around us. Parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, friends, 
here join the sad procession ; here deposit the flowrs gath- 
ered by Affection's hand ; here turn from the buy scenes 
of life ; here together look upon the resting-plaes of the 
dear departed; and, as they do so, cannot but love that 
country for which they died more sincerely — ;annot but 
feel more than ever their duty to maintain, rotect, and 
defend its institutions. And thus it is, I repe^ that I ac- 
cept all such demonstrations as the heartfelt fidence of a 
love for that government which is ours to 'reserve, and 
which the occupants of these graves died to ^^ve. 

" ' The nation needs more than one pctical Sabbath. 
Not once each year only should we coUectiely talk of the 
sacrifices which gave it birth, of our glcf and strength, 
of our duties to those of every land, ( the necessities 
of the hour, of the sacred memory of t'^se in the earlier 
and later struggles who died that the -ition might live ; 



HONORS TO THE DEAD. 11 

but often, much oftener, we should in some public manner 
renew our vows, reconsecrate ourselves to its welfare. 
Patriotism is strengthened and intensified by public vows. 
The blessed names of martyred heroes are kept alive, and 
are the more revered by outward acts of devotion. 

" ' If in any nation, in view of the benefits received, this 
is true, it is certainly so with ours. The world presents no 
such parallel. None ever had such a soldiery, none ever 
such triumphs. The dead whose graves we this day visit, 
with their comrades sleeping in other places, and the living, 
fought the battles of the world. Their victory secured, as 
I humbly conceive, the ultimate victory of republican ideas 
and institutions everywhere. Their triumph is an assur- 
ance, sealed in bteod, that " a government of the people, by 
the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." 
Through their instrumentality, we rejoice in a freedom ma- 
tured, a bond delivered, of freedom to all men ; having no 
longer a sectional cause to divide and distract those who 
would counsel for the common welfare. Failure in the 
five years' fearful strife would have been failure for strug- 
gling humanity everywhere. 

"'If such the nature and magnitude of the triumph, 
what will be said of those securing it. I answer again, 
in sincerity, and in no spirit of fulsome eulogy, that the 
world presents no parallel — that time never developed 
such a soldiery. 

" ' Hundreds of thousands of them reared in luxury, 
surrounded by every comfort and every advantage which 
the love of parents or the care of friends could provide ; 
men of education and highest culture ; blessed with every- 
thing that money could bestow ; with wives, fathers, 
brothers, sisters, children, but too willing to consult their 
happiness and contribute to their welfare ; compelled by no 
kingly edict, conscripted by no despotic power, stimulated 
by no love of mere personal gain ; following the fortunes, 
not allured by the prospective conquests, of the more ad- 



12 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

venturous leader, for a compensation at the utmost merely 
nominal ; unused to hardships and uninstructed in the 
machinery of war ; careless of danger and unmindful of 
disease and death ; but loving their country, yes, surely, 
purely, strongly loving their country, they left all of home 
behind, all of ease, all of hope, all of comforts, family, 
friends, fortune, and in the ranks fought and died for that 
country — marched, faced the enemy, fought, died, tri- 
umphed, for their country here, for themselves here and 
hereafter. 

" ' Than this no spectacle could be grander, none more 
worthy of admiration, none commanding more the undi- 
vided praise of the friends of freedom everywhere. 

" ' Their deeds are a part of our history ,'and need no rep- 
etition. And especially is all this true of the men of Iowa. 
Catholic in spirit as to all parts of our country, withhold- 
ing the meed of praise from none, I nevertheless cannot 
help, and I know I am by those around me pardoned for, 
feeling the admiration of an enthusiast, the respect of a 
friend, and the devotion of a worshipper when I turn to the 
men of our own loved State ; I confess that I do love Iowa 
and her soldiers best. I cannot help it ; I could not if I 
would, and would not if I could. You love them too ; love 
them because you know their devotion to duty ; love them 
because they never proved faithless to a trust ; love them 
because of their heroism ; love them because they never 
turned their backs upon an enemy ; love them because 
they stood by the heroic Lyon at Wilson's Creek ; because 
they were the first in the entrenchments at Donelson ; be- 
cause they made a part of the impenetrable wall under 
Grant at Pittsburg Landing ; because they made the grand- 
est march of history under Sherman ; because they took 
part in almost the first skirmish, and remained true, in- 
creasing in number as the wants of the country demanded, 
until they were participants in the last surrender ; love 
them because they were of the best blood of the State ; 



HONORS TO THE DEAD. 13 

love them because their ranks were filled by such- men as 
those filling these graves — Weeks, Blodgett, Lyon, Laird, 
Doty, Dewey, Mills, and Crocker, and others whose names 
I do not now recall, but equally worthy of honorable men- 
tion. 

"'In view of such a record and such names, who would not 
love Iowa and be proud of her soldiery ? I often think of 
their prototype in the suffering and wounded hero of Look- 
out Mountain, of whom I never think without feeling more 
love for this country, for which such men died. Brought 
to the surofeon's table, under the influence of narcotics, his 
right arm was severed from his body. Aroused from his 
stupor, he exclaimed, " Bring me back my arm, bring me 
back my arm." Returned to him, he clasped its fingers 
and exclaimed, " Good-by old arm ; for thirty years you 
were mine : we now must part. No more will you wield 
the sword or carry the musket in defense of my country ; 
no more assist me in the struggle with life : and yet," 
turning to them around him, " think not that I complain ; 
this, life, all I will cheerfully give to save and preserve 
the nation ; " and releasing his grasp, turned his eyes to 
heaven and died. 

" ' I know not that he was from Iowa. Such was the 
spirit of our men. Those named, hundreds and thou 
sands of others — those who sleep silently within this 
cemetery, as also those engaged in paying these duties to 
the dead — were of equal fortitude, of equal patriotism ; 
and on the march or on the battle-fiejd, in the hospital or 
in the prison, could and did, truthfully led by the same de- 
votion, exclaim : — 

" ' " Some things are evil ; some others so good, 
The nation that buys them pays only in blood ; 
For freedom and union each man owes his part, 
And we give ourselves with our life-blood all warm from our heart." 

"'Such soldiers who would not love? Baptize their 
graves with your tears ; spread above their tombs those 



14 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

garland tokens of your affection ; revere and respect their 
sacred memories; care for and protect their families; 
honor the living ; annually, at least, return to the per- 
formance of these sad offices, and thus shall you act as 
citizens grateful for blessings bestowed; thus shall you 
prove another link in the chain which binds you to this 
country, my country, and yours.' 

ADDRESS OF GEN. ED. WRIGHT. 

" ' Ladies and Gentlemen, — It is impossible for me to find 
words with which to express my feelings upon this occa- 
sion. We have met here for the purpose of honoring those 
brave men who left homes and friends, — who left every 
object that was dear to them except one, and for that one 
they gave their lives, and their bones are now buried be- 
neath the sod we are here to decorate with these emblems 
of purity and loveliness. I feel that silence would be 
much more appropriate than anything that I can say. The 
occasion to me is one of sadness. It calls my mind back 
to scenes, the like of which I hope I may never be called 
to witness again — scenes where brave and noble men lay 
dying on the field of strife, and their lifeless bodies were 
buried beneath the soil of a strange land. Will their 
graves be decorated to-day ? I fear not. I fear that years 
will pass before the graves of all the noble and brave men 
who gave their lives in defense of a government baptized 
in the blood of our fathers, and perpetuated by the sacri- 
fice of thousands of persons of this generation, will receive 
that reverence due their brave hearts and the cause they 
died to sustain. God grant that the time may soon come 
when the graves of all soldiers who died in defense of that 
old flag we all love, will be honored alike, in all parts of 
our common country. 

" ' Seven years have passed since I stood in the same 
place I occupied to-day when the procession was forming, 
and from whence I saw Company D of the Second Iowa 



HONORS TO THE DEAD. 15 

take leave of friends and home, and go to their country's 
defense. There I saw the generous and noble-hearted 
Crocker, whose heroic deeds I will not attempt to relate, 
as they have become part of the history of the age, and 
are familiar to you all. There was the brave and noble 
patriot. Mills, whom you could only know to love. There 
was Doty, and Weeks, and a host of others, who left all 
that was dear to them, and have found a soldier's grave. 
A few of those have been permitted to rest in peace among 
their friends, and their last resting-place has been deco- 
rated to-day. But while we are doing honor to those who 
have been permitted to receive Christian burial, let us not 
forget those who perished in a foreign land; those who 
were treated and buried like beasts at Andersonville. 
Their graves are not surrounded to-day by those who love; 
and honor their memory. No loving mother, cherished 
sister, or kind friend is there to mourn over, and plant the 
token of remembrance ; — but the Giver of all blessings^ 
will not forget them. He will cause the grass to grow 
green, and the violets to spring up and cover their graves. 
" ' This occasion calls to my mind many scenes that I 
would I could obliterate from my memory. I remember a 
beautiful blue-eyed boy, the, idol of his parents. Young 
and tender, he needed his mother's protecting care. He 
was patriotic, and obtained his mother's consent to enlist in 
defense of the old flag. He enlisted, and was marched to 
the battle-field. I saw that boy fall in the front line, his 
face to the enemy. While he was writhing in the agonies 
of death, I smoothed back his silken hair, and placed my 
hand on his forehead ; he looked up in my face and smiled,, 
saying, " Colonel, I am dying, I cannot live long ; I have 
tried to be a good soldier; tell my mother so, and say 
to her that I died for my country, and doing my duty."" 
That boy, brave as he was, loved as he was, did not find a. 
grave among friends ;' he was buried by his fellow soldiers, 
wrapt in his blanket ; a rude head-board, carved by his- 



16 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

comrades, marks his last resting-place. There was no 
loving mother or kind sister to soothe his last moments, 
and drop a tear of affection on his grave. He was buried 
amid the rattle of nmsketry, the booming of cannon, and 
the strife of contending armies ; but his name has not been 
forgotten ; he still lives in the hearts of his countrymen ; 
his memory and heroic deeds are preserved in history ; his 
name is enrolled high in the roll of honor. His mother 
anourns his loss, but feels that she was only doing her duty 
to her country when she gave her only son to sustain the 
cause of human freedom. This is only one instance among 
thousands of similar cases. With such mothers and such 
boys is it possible for a republican form of government to 
fail ? I sometimes feel that some of us who have been 
spared to enjoy the blessings of a government so dearly 
bought, and preserved by the sacrifice of so much blood 
and treasure, forget the many homes that were made deso- 
late by loss of husband or son, the many children that 
were left without the protecting care of a father ; I fear we 
forget that duty which calls us to see that these children 
are properly protected, educated, and trained for useful- 
ness, that they may honor their fathers and the country for 
which they died.' 

ADDRESS OF F. W. PALMER. 

" ' During the war through which the nation recently 
passed, we were accustomed to watch with eager eyes for 
tidings from each succeeding battle ; and whenever suc- 
cess to the Union arms was proclaimed, our exultation was 
unbounded, until intelligence came of the sacrifices through 
which the victory was obtained. Here, in the centre of 
an unmolested State, far removed from the devastation of 
hostile legions, we did not realize the grim visitations of 
war, until those loved ones, who, in defense of their country 
had forsaken their peaceful vocations, ambition, friends, 
kindred, home, were returned in the form of this inani- 



HONORS TO THE DEAD. /IT 

mate dust, to receive the last gaze of affection and the rites 
of sepulture. While it is our privilege to assemble here 
to-day to show by appropriate ceremonial our memory of 
these our patriot dead, we should also remember those of 
the 300,000 Union slain, whose graves in the beds of rivers, 
at the bottom of the sea, on the mountain tops and in the 
valleys of all the South, are to human eyes unmarked and 
unknown. No poor ceremonies of ours could add to or 
detract from the glory which they achieved in their lives 
and in their death ; but the remembrance of the sacrifices 
through which our governniental defense was secured, will 
aid us in the discharge of the responsible duties of citizen- 
ship which rest upon us. Here, in the presence of these 
honored dead, let us renew our devotion to the principles 
of republican liberty for which they died. Let us teach 
our children that in comparison with the duty and the 
glory of its defense, all mere personal ambition, honor, and 
fame sink into insignificance ; and that this inestimable 
boon of a free representative Republic is not alone for us, 
nor for them, but for the liberty-loving people of all na- 
tions, and all climes, in all ages, while human governments 
shall endure.' 

ADDRESS OF COL. C. C CARPENTEK. 

" ' Ladies and Gentlemen, — In presence of these graves, 
how poor and feeble are any words that men can utter ! 
The flowers brought by the hand of Affection to be scat- 
tered upon these honored mounds, speak a language which 
no addition of words, can strengthen. Can I say anything 
to remove the mist which to-day clouds many an eye ? 
Can I command one talismanic word that will add to the 
honor or burnish the fame of the men whose memories we 
cherish by this tenderest symbolism of love ? No ! O 
no ! it would be an egotism, that would dare to question 
the heart's history to attempt it. 

" ' These men need no eulogy. Their records are made ; 



18 \ AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

their place in the hearts of their countrymen is secure. It 
is our duty to gather their ashes into " History's golden 
urn," as an example and inspiration to the living. 

" ' Standing in the presence of these graves to-day it will 
not be inappropriate to ask, how shall we secure for our 
country the future which these men died to render pos- 
sible ? We feel to-day that our annual visit to these hal- 
lowed homes of our dead soldiers — with flowers, with 
music, and with tears — should be repeated with each re- 
turning spring-time, while flowers continue to bloom and 
human affection survives, and that this tender love we bear 
our dead heroes should increase year by year, as the coun- 
try for which they died grows greater and still greater. 
But if we would retain the emotions of to-day and the 
beautiful ceremony which they have evoked as part of the 
ritualism of patriotism in the ages yet to come, we must 
preserve unimpaired by dishonor the free institutions for 
which these noble men gave up their lives. Should we as 
a people or a nation ever become so demoralized as to 
lose our affection for our country, then from our hearts 
will fade the memory of the men who died to save it. 
Should we in the wild strife of ambition, of wealth, of 
power, or through ignorance or indifference let the fire 
kindled upon the altar of Liberty become extinct, then will 
the love burning in our bosoms for the men who died that 
Liberty might live go out with that fire forever. Then, 
and not till then, will we cease to bedeck with flowers, and 
bedew with tears, the hallowed graves which billow every 
cemetery in the land. 

" ' I therefore close in the lanj^uao-e of one to whose words 
are given the added solemnity of being sealed with a mar- 
tyr's blood : 

" ' " It is rather for us to be dedicated to the great task 
remaining before us ; that from these honored dead we take 
increased jdevotion to that cause for which they gave the 
last full measure of devotion ; that we here highly resolve 



HONORS TO THE DEAD. 19 

that these dead shall not have died in vain : that this na- 
tion, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom ; and 
that the government of the people, by the people, and for 
the people, shall not perish from the earth." ' 

" After the conclusion of these eloquent addresses, the 
procession was again formed, and moved to the centre of 
the city, when it was dispersed. And so ended the beauti- 
ful ceremonies of Des Moines at the graves of its soldiers." 



TO MY SON. 

Mt dear Son, — This book is written to benefit the 
living. If, by the grace of God, your life shall be spared 
until you are of proper age to read and understand what is 
herein written, I do earnestly hope that you may gain much 
benefit from its perusal. He only knows whether we shall 
have a country at all, by the time that you have grown to 
be a man ! Was the great Rebellion only the beginning of 
her dying agonies, as portrayed by Daniel Webster ? And 
must it be followed by other and more dreadful convulsions 
until her life has become extinct? Those who strove with 
bloody hands to destroy this free government, have all 
been pardoned, and even now, with audacity unparalleled, 
openly proclaim their determination to continue the strug- 
gle, until the Union is broken up and destroyed. 0, it 
seems to me that we have been too lenient with traitors. 
The rebel leaders ought, at least, to have been prohibited 
from ever holding office in this country. How corrupt 
were the politicians that led the South into rebellion ! And 
I greatly fear that the same corruption exists to-day amongst 
the acknowledged leaders of the North ; and unless the 
people rebuke them, bring them down from their high 
places, putting new and honest men in their stead — not 
office-seeker^, but men sought out and selected by the people ; 
such as the people bring out, not such as/brce themselves 
into notice — we will certainly be undone, and the country 
go to ruin ; for politicians seeking for office are willing to 
sacrifice every sacred principle to gain high place. Men 
who have been honored by the people and supported by 
them all their lives, begin now to think, like spoiled chil- 



TO MY SON. 21 

dren, that they are the head and front of all things ; that 
they are of vast consequence, forsooth ; that the Republic 
is but a medal to hang about their necks as a reward for 
what the people have already given them ; as if there were 
not ten thousand farmers and as many mechanics and 
laboring men in these United States, better fitted by edu- 
cation and natural endowments of mind, and a thousand 
times better fitted by the possession of honest, patriotic, 
incorruptible hearts, to fill the offices, than any number of 
hungry politicians. May every man who seeks for office, 
meet with sad disappointment. May such never be elected. 
A great and good man will come to a high place with 
reluctance, acknowledging his incapacity to fill it accept- 
ably, as did Washington. He will also rejoice, as did the 
father of his country, when the time has arrived for him 
to return to his quiet home of retirement. 

But, my son, it was not my purpose to say so much con- 
cerning the affairs of our country. I wish to teach you 
how to become a good citizen. This you cannot be with- 
out you are a good man. From what motives then must you 
act to be truly virtuous ? Listen, and I will try briefly to 
inform you. 

Remember that there is a God to whom we should be 
grateful, and ever consider what motives influence Him 
to action. He doth what is just and proper to be done, 
because it is just and proper; so you, my son, only study to 
know what is your duty, then go forward and do it, fearing 
nothing. How pernicious is that system of morals which 
teaches us to look for a reward for whatever good we may 
do in this life, as if man were a sordid creature and must 
be influenced only by motives of gain. " Love and serve 
God " (says the teacher of that false system) " that you 
may thereby gain an inheritance in heaven." " Love and 
serve Him " (says the teacher of truth^ " because it is your 
duty to do so." What would you think of the soldier who 
goes forward to serve his country only on account of pay 



22 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

and bounty ? Says the true American soldier, " I early 
imbibed a love for my country by reading its history, and 
I have frequently thought I would like to transmit to fu- 
ture generations something as a memento of my attach- 
ment to her ; the opportunity offers and I embrace it, and 
if I once loved my country well enough to lay my life upon 
her altar, I now love it well enough to do the same thing 
though my life were a thousand times more precious." As 
was the love of this one for his country, so should ours be 
for whatever is true and good. We should choose death 
rather than do wrong knowingly. We should make it the 
chief study and desire of our lives to be good. How exalted 
is man possessed of an immortal soul ! — capable of what 
noble achievements ! He has grasped the lightning and 
made it subservient to his will. By the power of his mind 
he has brought together the distant parts of the earth. 
How pure and noble should be the actions of one so ex- 
alted in mind — so mighty in thought ! As God is good, 
so should he be good also, and from the same motives, ^. e., 
because it is right and in harmony with his exalted nature to 
he good. As we delight in sweet music, and in the har- 
mony of numbers, so should we delight in virtue. 

Learning is desirable, and, my son, I would have you 
seek for knowledge as for hidden treasures ; but virtue is 
true wisdom ; virtue is the brightest jewel on earth ; I would 
rather have that jewel in its perfection than to sit upon the 
throne of Solomon. ^What is virtue ? It is to despise 
death ; to hold pain and pleasure in contempt ; to consider 
hoarded wealth nothing but folly ; to love truth ; to love a 
good name ; to love one's country ; to love God ; to love 
health ; to love friends and home ; to hate no living crea- 
ture ; to fear nothing ; to be hospitable and kind and brave 
and magnanimous ; to cherish a pride of self, but always 
walking^ meeklv before men, and humblv like a little child. 
There is a certain love of self which is proper and com- 
mendable. It is to realize the dignity of one's own soul 



TO MY SON. 23 

and mind ; but with men as with stocks of ripened wheat, 
the heads that are fullest are the most bowed down. Jesus, our 
dear Saviour, knew that he was the Son of God — was 
conscious of the divinity in him ; but yet he was meek and 
lowly. He was too proud to commit sin ; but he was not 
too proud to visit the lowly and the poor — to heal the 
sick. He went about doing good ; nor did he visit the 
poor as many who pretend to be his followers do in our 
day, dressed in silk, embroidered with gold. But the poor 
felt that he was one of them, though he was richer than all 
the world. So should we be meek, and go about doing 
good. God has given us a gift in value exceeding the 
finest gold, worth more than worlds. It is an immortal 
mind — a soul that must continue to live while time shall 
last. Yes, long after the sun that now shines in heaven 
has ceased to give light. Let us be proud of that gift. 
How many young men, intemperate and immoral in their 
lives and practices, continue on in their wickedness and 
folly, feeling mean and contemptible, who, if they had a 
horse, or even a dog, that they could call their own, would 
take the greatest care of it possible. They do not value 
themselves as much. They may dress ever so fine ; they 
may hold their heads ever so high ; they are vain, but 
they have not real pride that is commendable. They 
know not what true honor or true manliness is. They are 
ignoble and vile. If one realizes the real worth of himself 
he will live as becomes a man. "Jesus," Rousseau says, 
" lived and died like a God." There is the true motive of 
action. Live as becomes a man. True pride, true dignity, 
true honor do this ; not from fear of punishment ; not 
from hope of reward ; but to do less nuist lead one to 
despise himself. As you value yourself, so you will live a 
noble or an ignoble life. Love the soul and mind that God 
has given you above all riches ; honor yourself, your im- 
mortal self; honor the country in which you live, and the 
world ; honor God. Let it be said of you in after days : 



24 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" It is good that this man was born." These are the 
sublime thoughts which I hope may actuate you at all 
times. How noble it is to do right always ; how mean to 
do wrong at any time. 

Whoever acts from any motive other than a desire to do 
right for its own sake, though he may live ever so exem- 
plary a life, cannot be called a good man. Suppose he 
tries to be a Christian, and feels in his heart that it is for 
the reward that he follows after the Saviour, or for fear of 
punishment that he keeps from outbreaking sin ; is he a 
good man ? What reward did Jesus hope for that led him 
to come down amongst men and suffer on the cross ? None 
verily. Nor can the follower of Jesus work for a reward ; 
but like Job, he says in his heart, " Though he slay me 
yet will I trust in him." The light of nature enabled the 
ancient Greeks and Romans to discover not only the exist- 
ence of Deity and the immortality of the soul, but by reason 
and philosophy they had arrived at a pure code of morals 
— not equaling, however, the instructions of the Saviour 
who said, " Love your enemies ; " yet it is a wonder to me 
that the moral works of Cicero, and other ancient philoso- 
phers, are not more studied in our day than they are ; for 
(God having given men reason to find out truth) those wise 
sages had discovered much that is beautiful and beneficial. 
There is nothing more sublime, except the Holy Scriptures, 
than the noble book of Cicero's called the " Offices," and his 
essays on " Friendship " and " Old Age." They have been 
translated into our language ; but they are very little studied 
at present. " Though," says he, " we could conceal any trans- 
action from all gods and men, yet nothing avaricious should 
be done, nothing unjust, nothing licentious, nothing inconti- 
nent. To this purpose Plato introduces that celebrated Gy- 
ges, who, when the earth had opened in consequence of cer- 
tain heavy showers, descended into that chasm, and as tra- 
dition goes, beheld a brazen horse, in whose side was a door, 
on opening which, he beheld the body of a dead man of ex- 



TO MY SON. 25 

traordinary size, and a gold ring upon his finger, which, when 
he had drawn off, he himself put it on, and then betook him- 
self to the assembly of the shepherds (for he was the king's 
shepherd). There, when he turned the stone of the ring to 
the palm of his hand, he was visible to no person, but him- 
self saw everything ; and when he had turned the ring to its 
proper place, he again became visible. Having employed, 
then, this convenience of the ring, he committed adultery 
with the queen, and with her assistance slew the king his 
master, and got rid of those whom he considered likely to 
oppose him. Nor could any one discover him in these 
crimes ; so with the assistance of the ring he suddenly 
sprung up to be King of Lydia. Now if a wise man had 
this ring itself, he would think that he was no more at 
liberty to commit crime than if he had it not. For virtue, 
not secrecy, is sought by good men." 

Thus wrote philosophers long before our Saviour was 
born, and wise men spent their lives in imparting to the 
youth lessons of virtue. Proud was a young man then, to 
have it said of himself, " He is virtuous." To-day young 
men seem to prize virtue not at all ; but are only anxious 
to have it said of themselves, " He is learned." What is 
learning without virtue ? It is strength given to ferocious 
beasts. It seems to me that in colleges and institutions of 
learning the great object should be to implant in the minds 
of the youth the seeds of virtue. How is this part, this 
most essential part of an education neglected in our day ! 
I have known young men, fresh from our most renowned 
institutions of learning, having graduated with the high- 
est honors, their minds stored with all kinds of useful 
knowledge, except the knowledge how to be good — I have 
known them, I say, sink into drunkards' graves at an early 
age, from the habits of intemperance acquired ivhile attend- 
ing college. They went away from home innocent and pure 
in heart, in mind uneducated. They returned home at the 
end of their college term, corrupt in heart, the slaves of 



26 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

evil habits, their minds highly cultivated. The student 
must start out with the thought, " I would rather be virtu- 
ous than possess the wealth of kingdoms ; I desire to be- 
come a good man." His passions and appetites must be 
controlled. He must " rule his own spirit." 

So, my son, remember that it is not for office, nor power, 
nor wealth, nor fame that you should struggle in this life, 
but to become a " perfect man^ When you have acquired 
all knowledge, and have become as good and great as it is 
possible for man to be, though you may follow the plough all 
your life, and be only known to your own family and a few 
friends, the consciousness of greatness in your own heart 
will be abundant satisfaction to you — of more value than 
to have occupied the place of chief magistrate of the United 
States. All men cannot be distinguished who are virtuous 
and brave and noble. A little circumstance often brings 
men of worth into notice who would otherwise have passed 
their lives in obscurity. As I have written elsewhere, Grant 
woul(i in all probability have lived unknown to his country- 
men and the world, but for the circumstance of the Rebel- 
lion. Yet he would have been as great in the estimation 
of his own consciousness and in the sight of God as he now 
is ; and what is a man's life worth beyond its real weight in 
the estimation of one's own mind and that of God ? 



PART II. 

• 

MEMOIRS OF DECEASED SOLDIERS. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA VOLUNTEERS.^ 

Company D was made up in Des Moines, the first en- 
listed in Polk County. Young men of talent and learning, 

1 List of Engagements in which the Second loioa Infantry Volunteers pm^- 

ticipated : — 
FoKT DoNELSON, February 14 and 15, 1862. 
Shiloh, April 6 and 7, 1862. 
Advance on Corinth, May 10 to 29, 1862. 
Corinth, October 3 and 5, 1862. 
Little Bear Creek, Alabama, November 28, 1862. 
Town Ckeek, Alabama, April, 18G3. 
Kesaca, Georgia, May 14 and 15, 1864. 
Rome Cross-roads, May 16, 1864. 
Dallas, Georgia, May 27, 28, 29, 1864. 
Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia, June 10 to 30, 1864. 
NicojACK Creek, Georgia, July 4, 1864. 
In Front of Atlanta, July 22, 1864. 
Siege of Atlanta, July 20 to August 27, 1864. 
Jonesboro', Georgia, August 31, 1864. 
Eden Station, Georgia, December 7, 1864 
Little Ogeohee, Georgia, December 10 to 20, 1864. 
Savannah, Georgia, December 21, 1864. 
Columbia, South Carolina, February 15 and 16, 1865. 
Lynch's Creek, South Carolina, February 26, 1865. 
Benton viLLE, North Carolina, March 18 to 21, 1865. 

List of Statio7is of the Second Iowa Infantry. 

Keokuk, Iowa (rendezvous), from May 24 to June 13, 1861. 

Hannibal, Mo., June 14, 1861. 

St. Joseph, Mo., from June 15 to July 26, 1861. 

Arsenal, St. Louis, Mo., from July 28 to Aug. 1, 1861. 

Bird's Point, Mo., from Aug. 2 to Aug. 14, 186 L 

Pilot Knob, Ironton, Mo., from Aug. 17 to Aug. 27, 1861. 

Jackson, Mo., from Sept. 1 to Sept. 8, 1861. 



30 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

the flower of the city, composed its rank and file, and Crocker 
Dykeman, Mills, and Ensign were its commanding officers. 
This company was enrolled in May 1861, and was dis- 
charged in July 1865, after having marched over all of 
Missouri and Tennessee, and parts of Mississippi and Ala- 
bama, and through Georgia, and South and North Carolina, 
and Virginia, to Washington City, and back to Iowa. Its 
flag was unfurled from the time of the first call of Lincoln 
for 75,000 troops until the close of the war. The company 
was organized really before the war began, — the Capitol 
Guards of 1860. In the Arsenal at Des Moines hangs the 
old flag of the Second Iowa, under which is inscribed : — 

THE FIRST UNION FLAG 

THAT EVER FLOATED OVER REBEL DEFENSES 

AFTER BATTLE 

DURING THE REBELLION ! 

Fort Jefferson, Ky., from Sept. 16 to Sept. 23, 1861. 

Bird's Point, Mo., from Sept. 24 to Oct. 27, 1861. 

Benton Barracks, Mo., from Oct. 29 to Dec. 23, 1861. 

Military Prison, McDowell's College, St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 23, 1861, to Feb. 

10, 1862. 
Fort Donelson, Tenn., from Feb. 16 to March 6, 1862. 
Pittsburg Landing (Shiloh), Tenn., from March 19 to April 28, 1862. 
Camp Montgomery, near Corinth, Miss., from June 1.5 to Oct. 4, 1862. 
Rienzi, Miss., from Oct. 6 to Nov. 20, 1862. 
Corinth, Miss., from Nov. 20, 1862, to ]\Iay 31, 1863. 
Lagrange, Tenn., June 1 to Nov. 1, 1863. 
Pulaski, Tenn., from Nov. 11, 1863, to April 29, 1864. 
East Point, Ga., from Sept. — to Sept. — , 1864. 
Home, Ga., from Sept. — to Nov. 11, 1864. 
Savannah, Ga., from Dec. 21, 1864, to January 28, 1865. 
Goldsboro', N. C, fi-om March 24 to April 10, 1865. 
Raleigh, N. C, from April 14 to April 29, 1865. 
Petersburg, Va., from May 7 to May 9, 1865. 
Richmond, Va., from May 10 to May 13, 1865. 
Alexandria, Va., from May 20 to May 24, 1865. 
Washington, D. C, from May 24 to June 1, 1865. 
Louisville, Ky., from June 6 to July 12, 1865. 
Davenport, Iowa, July 15, 1865. 

From Reports of Adjutant-General cf Iowa. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 31 

By Telegraph from St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 19, 1862. 

AdjutXnt-General Baker : — The Second Iowa In- 
fantry proved themselves the bravest of the brave. They 
had the honor of heading the column which entered Fort 

Donelson. 

H. W. HALLECK, Major-General. 

The following named members of Company D, Second 
Iowa Infantry, received commissions during the war : — 

Marcellus M. Crocker, Noah W. Mills, Edgar T. Ensign, 
Edward L. Marsh, Newton L. Dykeman, Samuel H. Lunt, 
George L. Godfrey, Edward C. Tunis, John Lynde, Wm. 
L. Davis, Philander D. Gillette, Wm. E. Houston, Leonard 
B. Houston, David M. Sells, John H. Browne, Robert Al- 
len, Jr., Theodore G. Cree, Wm. Eagan, Wm. H. Hoxie, 
John H. Looby, JohnWatson. 

THEODORE G. WEEKS, 
NATHAN W. DOTY, 

Were the first of this company to fall in battle. In the 
charge at Donelson the Second Iowa was led by as brave a 
man as ever led soldiers into battle, and braver soldiers 
never followed a leader. Mills says, in a letter written to 
his brother in Des Moines shortly after the battle : — 

" Colonel Tuttle loomed up tall in front, waving his 
sword and stepping firmly and proudly. Men were seen 
dropping out of the ranks killed and wounded. Theodore 
G. Weeks, the ardent fellow, was killed by a ball in his 
head when he got to the inside of the earthworks. The 
line was there reformed, and we fired awhile at the retreat 
ino; rebels. We then advanced to the main entrenchments. 
Here the fight was desperate and we lost many good men 
Sergeant Nathan W. Doty, who had won a great many 
friends in the regiment by his intelligence and amiability, 
was killed near by me." 

When the remains of Weeks and Doty were brought 
home they were buried with most imposing ceremonies. 



32 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

The Mayor and City Council of Des Moines took charge 
of the solemn exercises. All the business houses of the 
city were closed, and business was suspended from 1 1 a. m. 
to 3 p. M., and both Houses of the General Assembly, then 
in session, adjourned in honor of the occasion ; and the 
members, accompanied by the Governor of the State and 
his staif, and the United States and State officers, and the 
officers of both Houses, attended the funeral in a body, and 
with the lodoes of Freemasons and Odd Fellows and Good 
TemjDlars, and the military, and the largest concourse of 
citizens ever assembled in Des Moines, listened to the elo- 
quent eulogy pronounced by Hon. D. O. Finch, in honor 
of the dead. 

To show the interest that was then felt in the martyred 
soldiers, and the honor then thought not unworthily be- 
stowed upon them, I will here present an account of the 
entire proceedings of that day, commencing with a com- 
plete programme of the exercises, premising that, if these 
two noble, generous, and patriotic youths who gave their 
lives a willing sacrifice — the first offered of the residents 
of this community — merited, as they certainly did, these 
solemn honors, should not the 280 martyrs from this city 
and county also receive from our hands some handsome 
mark of our appreciation of their services and sacrifices ? 

HONOR TO THE BRAVE. 
The funeral of Nathan W. Doty, and Theodore G. 
Weeks, members of Company D, 2d Iowa Regiment, who 
were killed at the battle of Fort Donelson, will take place 
at Ingham's Hall, Tuesday, March 11, 1862, 12 o'clock m. 

ORDER OF EXERCISES. 

Voluntary By the Choir. 

" Come unto me all ye that labor and are heaxry laden, 
And I will give you rest — I will give you rest. 
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me ; 
For I am meek and lowly of heart, 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 33 

And ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 

His yoke is easy and his burden is light." 

Prater .... By Rev. Thompson Bird. 
Reading XVth Chapter of Corinthians, 

By Rev. Edward W. Peet. 
Voluntary By the Choir. 

"As for man his days are as the grass; his days are as the grass; 
As a flower of the field so he flourisheth ; so he flourisheth ; 
For the wind passeth over it and it is gone; it is gone; 
And the place thereof shall know it no more, shall know it no more.' ' 

Funeral Oration . . . . By D. 0. Finch. 
Prayer .... By Rev. J. M. Chamberlain. 
Voluntary By the Choir. 

" Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb ; 

Take this new treasure to thy trust, 
And give these sacred relics room 

To slumber in the silent dust; 

And give these sacred relics room 

To slumber in the silent dust. 

*' Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear 
' Invade thy bound — no mortal woes 

Can reach the peaceful sleeper here, 
While angels watch his soft repose. 

" Break from his throne illustrious morn 1 
Attend, O earth! his sovereign word; 

Restore thy trust — a glorious form 
Shall then arise to meet the Lord ; 

Restore thy trust — a glorious form 
Shall then arise and meet the Lord." 

Chief Marshal J. N. Dewey will form the procession. 
Assistant Marshal. Chief Marshal. Assistant Marshal. 

BRASS BAND. 

MILITARY ESCORT. 

pall BEARERS CITIZENS. 



34 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Body Guards Soldiers Body Guards Soldiers 

HEARSE. 
of Second Iowa. of Second Iowa. 

MOURNERS. 
ASSISTANT MARSHAL. 
CLERGY AND ORATOR. 
GOVERNOR AND STAFF. 
ASSISTANT MARSHAL. 
LIEUTENANT - GOVERNOR AND SPEAKER OF HOUSE OF 
REPRESENTATIVES. 
OFFICERS OF UNITED STATES AND STATE OFFICERS. 
MILITARY COMMITTEES OF SENATE AND HOUSE OF REP- 
RESENTATIVES. 
MEMBERS OF LEGISLATURE. 
MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF DES MOINES. 
ASSISTANT MARSHAL. 
STRANGERS. 

MASONS. » 

ODD FELLOWS. 

GOOD TEMPLARS. 

CITIZENS ON FOOT. 

ASSISTANT MARSHAL. 

CITIZENS IN CARRIAGES. 

CITIZENS ON HORSEBACK. 

ASSISTANT MARSHAL. 

ORATION. 

" There is that in the holy solemnity of the occasion 
which has called us together, which renders any near 
approach by me to the expectations which the subject 
would naturally inspire, a moral impossibility. 

" The mere contemplation of death, upon the basis of 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 35 

theory alone, is attended with such manifold evidences of a 
dreadful something, that it causes a tremor to creep over 
the frame of old and young, rich and poor, Christian and 
infidel. We read the heart-rending details of the distant 
battle-field, of pools of brains and streamlets of blood, and 
an increased horror fills our souls, the cold sweat stands 
from the brow, and untold agonies centre round the heart. 
But alas ! when we enter the chamber of death itself, and 
behold in the cold forms of dear friends now dead, 
living evidences by which conceptions are converted into 
realities — what language can express, what tongue can 
speak the intensity of anguish which fills our souls ! We 
would all, dictated by nature, fetter the tongue, drop the 
pen, and let the heart speak in its own deep and impressive 
language, the silent but potent tear, as it glitters at the 
outlet of its unsearchable caverns. 

" A few months since, these two noble specimens of en- 
lightened humanity were among us. Health was emblem- 
ized by their ruddy cheeks, mirth beamed in their eyes, 
jollity danced on their lips ; and each exterior emblem 
was a talisman of the social virtues and honest purpose 
which drew around them, when living, the host of friends 
who now attest their due appreciation of their merit by 
performing these last sad duties to their tenantless clay. 
That they were good boys, we knew ; that they were 
worthy the respect of the society in which they moved, 
none doubted then, and none doubt now. And yet how 
little did we know of them then ! 

"■ When, on the wings of the lightning, sad messages were 
borne to us that combinations and conspiracies were form- 
ing for the purpose of destroying this fair fabric of govern- 
ment, the mourning which only mantles the hero's brow, 
decked not less theirs than that of the veteran. And when 
at last the long- dreaded period arrived when our flag, 
hitherto respected by the world, was insulted in the home 
of its birth; when, within sound of the last resting-place 



36 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

of Marion and of Sumter, it was wantonly and maliciously 
assailed ; when, as it were, the reverberations of the foul- 
mouthed cannon whose missiles had rent the emblem of 
our nationality, struck the ears of Weeks and Doty, it 
affected them as it did all true patriots. The smile gave 
way to the frown, the merry song gave place to the justi- 
fiable oath, and they were among the first to place their 
lives subject to the order of the government. ; 

" No nobler men have engaged in the holy cause of our 
country than the company of the Second Iowa Regiment 
of which those we now mourn were members ; and I think 
I may say, without disparagement to any member of that 
company, that those we mourn would compare favorably 
with any of their companions. 

" We know not ourselves, and very little indeed do we 
know of those around us, until by the application of im- 
mutable tests, we become enlightened as to both. We cull 
glittering sands with joy, but we turn with disgust from the 
dross left in the crucible. We tread daily upon jewels be- 
cause they chance not to sparkle as we pass. We live near 
neighbor to the great and do not know it ; we court and 
praise cowards in our daily intercourse with the world and 
know it not. 

'• How fortunate indeed are they who have bequeathed to 
friends a name, a character of which there can be no doubt, 
which has passed through the furnace of severest trial, and 
been left a spotless legacy to his race. Such are the char- 
acters our friends have bequeathed, not alone to those in 
whose veins circulate the same blood, but to us all. We 
all claim a share in the rich legacy to which, by their un- 
written and unspoken will, we are justly entitled. Their 
will was their blood, and it was shed for the country, and as 
loyal citizens of it, no surrogate can by edict deprive us of 
our rightful inheritance. 

" The memory of the departure from our city of that 
noble band, will not soon be effaced from the minds of 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 37 

our people. How the heart almost choked the 'God 
speed ' in the throat of the fond father. How the tear- 
dimmed eye of the doting mother spoke the gentle 
'good-by.' How endless seemed the sister's fond em- 
brace when, breaking from the joys of home, the endear- 
ments of congenial companionship, and all the ties that 
cement the soul to familiar scenes, they left our midst to 
mingle in carnage and in blood. What noble emotions 
must have struggled in their bosoms for mastery over the 
selfish inclinations of human nature, and how grand indeed 
the bloodless victory, evidenced by the baring of their 
youthful breasts to the bayonets of the traitors, that the 
godlike principle of self-government might yet survive 
the most gigantic rebellion ever inaugurated by human in- 
genuity or urged to success by human power. 

" Influenced not alone by the enthusiasm of the moment, 
these young men, possessed of intelligence and forethought, 
entered upon the arduous struggle before them with full 
conviction of the high duty which beckoned them from the 
unruffled bosom of civil life to the more hazardous 'field of 
war. It was after a calm deliberation upon the moment- 
ous issues involved in the fearful contest, and beholding as 
they did but one right and one wrong, fidelity upon the 
one side to the cardinal principles of free government, and 
upon the other the most accursed treason against not only 
the letter of constitutional law, but against the spirit, aye, 
the vital spirit of our institutions, they chose as only true 
men can choose, buckled on the armor of the soldier, and 
exposed themselves to the chances of war. While we all 
accord credit, but few, if any, who have not themselves ex- 
perienced, can truly comprehend the magnitude of that 
great moral victory fought on the battle-field of the soul. 

" Upon the one side are hung out as inducements to the 
young mind, all the allurements of comparative ease, the 
elegancies, the luxuries in many cases, and in all, the in- 
describable pleasures and comforts of home, the compan- 



38 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

ionship of parents, brothers, and sisters, and not imfre- 
qiiently, that of souls wedded by spiritual ties not weaker 
in their claims and more irresistible in their effects ; and 
upon the other, a deadly conflict, to enter which, by all past 
experience, the mind as well as the body is wholly un- 
tutored. Fatigue, labor, and total absence of bodily com- 
fort or mental recreation, encounter them at every step ; 
and last, but not least, the grim monster, Death, stalks 
boldly into their midst. He comes not to the brow when 
moistened by the tears of love. He comes not to the well- 
attended sick bed, where half his terrors are shorn by 
seraph voices, and ministering angels whisper the soul to 
kindlier regions, but he comes with stolid step, and with 
unassuaged pestilence ; he treads the funeral bier with iron 
heel, and drives the unwilling soul into the immediate 
presence of God who gave it. When we fully contem- 
plate the inducements on the one side, and the seeming 
terrors on the other, how can we find language to express 
our admiration of that patriotism which enables the youth 
to forego all the pleasures of the one, and willingly yoke 
himself to all the perils of the other. 

" Your hearts speak the eulogy which lips cannot utter, 
and the tear only — the angel's pen, can translate the soul. 

" We witnessed their departure, and now we welcome 
the return of the clay which then enveloped their noble 
souls. But who shall truly write of the intervening time ? 
Who paint the joys, the woes ? Who follow with the pen 
their weary limbs in the midnight march ? Who tell the 
thoughts which occupied the mind of the lonely sentinel, as 
for long and tedious hours he paced his accustomed beat 
with no witness to his fidelity but God and the stars ? 
Who conceive the dreams of home, of friends, of victory, of 
honor, which have sometimes tortured, sometimes consoled 
their frozen couch ? And where the pen that can truly 
paint the glow of laudable pride, when they have gazed 
upon the bright stars of a vindicated flag ? Such tasks, I 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 39 

have not the presumption to undertake ; but the record 
which in their humble way they have impressed upon the 
historic page, warrants me in saying that they were inca- 
pable of any neglect of the responsibilities which attached 
to their position. 

" Exposed to all the changes of season, to the miasmas 
of the low lands, and the cutting breezes of the mountain, 
to contagions, and diseases of the most dangerous and the 
most disgusting nature, without a murmur they performed 
their duties in the tedious campaign which resulted in re- 
deeming our neighboring State from the pestilential breath 
of secession. The contagions which affected the body en- 
tered not the pure atmosphere of the soul. Warded off 
by a devotion as patriotic as it was deep, bodily ills were 
made to yield to spiritual determination, and they were 
called to a field of more arduous, more hazardous duty, and 
to a service of more intense importance to our cause and 
our country ; and in this new sphere the already signaled 
valor of the Hawkey e soldier became a fully solved prob- 
lem, and its result^ is recorded in the history of the most 
tempestuous days of our Republic. At Wilson's Creek, 
the Iowa First had demonstrated that the Iowa soldier was 
not a soldier for fun. They remained by the gallant Lyon, 
when by all law and by all obligation of contract, they could 
have returned to their homes and their friends. They 
were patriots. Love of country, and the highest sense of 
honor, prompted them to remain. To what purpose, you 
all know. They led one of the most gallant charges, and 
covered one of the most brilliant retreats of which the 
military history of the world can boast. 

" The gallant Iowa Seventh at Belmont added another 
wreath to the brow of the Iowa soldier. For miles, over 
hill and dale, through woodland and swamp, they fought 
their way to the goal of their hope, and on their weary re- 
turn cut their pathway of death through fresh foes. Their 
gallant dead have a choice niche in our memory, and the 



40 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

surviving brave are among the dearest objects of our indi- 
vidual and our State pride ; but by mandates of fortune, it 
was reserved for the Iowa Second to crown the wreath. 

" Fort Henry had yielded to the patriot band, — but 
Donelson frowned with her huge breastworks, her hun- 
dred eyes with leaden balls, her rifle-pits and loud-mouthed 
batteries, upon Freedom's advancing host. This was the 
barricade to the land of Jackson, where those who had in- 
herited the true spirit of his noble words and more noble 
example, were waiting deliverance from a worse than 
Egyptian bondage. This must be overcome. Sage com- 
manders so ordered. The six starred fla^ floating from 
the bulwark, and flaunting a falsehood to every breath of 
American air that bent its uncomely stripes, appealed not 
in vain to determined hearts. The seige was laid. For 
three long days was waged a bloody warfare against ad- 
vantage- So thick were strewn the dead and dying that 
the very earth might have been deemed the mother of 
misery and the generator of death. On the afternoon of 
the third day, victory or a failure hung upon the result of 
one mighty effort. The breastworks must be stormed and 
the intrenchments gained. Where could attention with 
more propriety be turned? Where could confidence 
more implicitly rest at this critical and trying moment, 
than upon the well-drilled delegates of that State, whose 
representatives had never failed upon any battle-field to 
prove themselves fully equal to the great exigencies of 
the most important occasions. 

" The Iowa Second were ordered to the front — the ob- 
ject^ of intensest desire pointed out. In the concentrated 
intensity of the hour, was centered the hopes of millions. 
The scale of destiny was balanced for the moment. To 
falter was to dishonor for the time, perhaps forever, the 
flag and the cause ; one quivering nerve might unnerve the 
whole ; one faltering voice, one trenmlous accent might 
shatter hope ; but fear not. With an alacrity unexcelled 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 41 

save by the undaunted courage which beamed in every eye 
and sat firmly on each determined feature, they sprang to 
the post of honor and of danger. With fixed bayonet, with 
rapid, yet regular tread, they bent themselves to the mighty 
work, on, up the rugged hill-side, over rock and fallen tree, 
over dead and dying, amid the buzzing cloud of death's 
leaden messengers, still on they go. Many pause, but 
only at the order of Deity ; but those spared this invitation 
to himself, still press forward ; the point is won ; the breast- 
works are mounted ; the intrenchments are gained ; the 
enemy is forced to retire ; peal upon peal of enthusiastic 
joy roll out upon the evening air ; the exultations of victory 
are heard by Weeks and Doty, and the shouts of triumph 
inspire the last emotions of their souls, as, just inside the 
intrenchments of the enemy, they sink to the sleep of the 
brave dead. From the heat of this deadly charge their 
souls took fliorht to the bosom of a God who invites to his 
mansion the souls of the virtuous and the brave. What a 
death ! Who would not release his claim to the last two 
thirds of the allotted period of life, thus to live, and thus to 
die ? These young men, one not yet having arrived at the 
age of majority, and the other having just entered the 
period of manhood, are about to fill, and fill well, the veter- 
an's grave. 

" You relatives, and we friends, mourn that we no more 
this side of eternity can enjoy their companionship ; but 
could they now witness the imposing ceremonies which 
attend the march of their ashes to their narrow house in 
the cemetery, to which they have oft with mourner's tread 
followed the loved dead — could they listen to the silent eu- 
logy which each heart is paying to their fearless patriotism 
— could they witness the pride with which the citizens of 
our State lisp their names, as a portion of her represen- 
tatives upon the battle-field of constitutional liberty — 
could they witness the conscious pride which keeps com- 
pany to the mournful tear, as it courses the cheeks of the 



42 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

denizens of our own city when we reflect that they were 
part of us, they would never again hazard a reappear- 
ance upon earth, and take the risk of finding in the vicis- 
situdes of the future another as glorious spot to die. 

" Why then should we mourn ? By the prayers of the 
loyal, let us wing away their souls, and with willing hands 
we will consign what remains to our own earth. As an 
emblem of the purity in which they lived, we will enshroud 
their bodies in virgin white, and as a symbol of the glory 
which crowned their death, we will wrap their coffin with 
the noble banner in the defense of which they died, deposit 
them in the quiet grave, and by example teach those who 
may come after us to moisten with patriot tears the sod 
which covers the mortal remains of these youthful martyrs 
to Freedom. 

" They have erected their own monument, and it is lo- 
cated in our hearts. This manifestation of our respect is 
highly appropriate. Let it go forth that to the brave 
living and honorably discharged, Iowa extends her most 
cordial welcome, and as to these, so will she always do 
honor to the ashes of the brave dead. And by our acts at 
home, as by those of our soldiers in the field, it will become 
as proverbial as it is true, that this is not the home of 
cowards, or the asylum of traitors. 

" These imposing ceremonies cannot fail to leave deeply 
impressed upon our minds lessons of the greatest magni- 
tude. By them we are again reminded of the feebleness 
of that thread upon which hangs our hopes of continued 
earthly joys. By them we are reminded that the time is 
unimportant, when compared with the manner in which we 
live ; that in fact it is quite immaterial at what time and in 
what manner the grim monster. Death, approaches us, so 
that he finds us bent to the performance of sacred duties, 
and engaged in godlike pursuits. 

" May our hearts not reject the lessons so laden with 
holy consolations, and my fervent prayer is that when death 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 43 

shall come to our eyes, — whether with leaden messengers 
we may be borne down beneath the chastening shadow of 
our flag, or whether by slow and stealthy step he creeps to 
our languishing sick-bed,' — it may find our ;ninds filled 
with as holy desires as those which must have actuated the 
souls of Theodore G. Weeks and Nathan W. Doty, as they 
sacrificed themselves upon their country's altar on the 
bloody field of Donelson." 

Thus may the brave ever receive honor in this capital ! 
Des Moines and Polk County will, I trust, ever cherish and 
revere the memory of the fallen from this community ; and 
I hope that the people of no section of the Union will ever 
neglect or forget the patriot dead. 

Doty was born in Lockport, Niagara County, N. Y., 
July 1, 1839. His father moved to Michigan, where Nathan 
was sent to the University and received a good education, 
— could read and speak the German language with facility, 
having learned it at school. '' He was always," says his 
mother, "thirsting for knowledge." He loved the study 
of history — was well informed on almost every subject — 
would converse with the most learned — had great argu- 
mentative powers — and he wrote beautifully. His letters, 
written when he was a boy at school, were greatly admired 
by persons of good taste and education. It could hardly 
be credited that they were written by one so young. 

Pie loved the green fields, the prairies and hills, and 
beautiful rivers. He says, writing from Keokuk, June 1st, 
1861 : " We are now in our new quarters, which are the 
best in the city. . . It is a most lovely day, and as I sit 
here on the top verandah, my eye roams over some of the 
finest scenery I ever beheld. We have a fine view of the 
old Mississippi for several miles, as it moves along, glitter- 
ing in the bright sunfight ; the prairies of Illinois rolling 
far away in the distance — the bluffs of Missouri covered 
with trees and verdure of every kind — so delightful! — 
I am almost willing to say that I could live here always and 



44 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

cheerfully put up with the privations of a soldier's life." 
His heart was all aglow with love of his country. " I arn 
determined," said he to his mother, " to see this Rebellion 
crushed or die in the cause." He had just returned from 
a short furlough to his home in Michigan, when the battle 
of Donelson occurred. He says : — 

" LOCKPORT, Jari'y 10, 1862. 

" Dear C : I am all right in our old home. I made 

up my mind that I would like some better to come and see 
the folks here than to go to Des Moines, inasmuch as I had 
not seen this place in five years. I left home in Colon 
yesterday noon and arrived here this morning at 4 o'clock 
— have not yet been out of town ; but shall go soon and visit 
all the folks. I shall go back to Colon in two weeks and 
expect to start for the regiment in one week from that time.' 

Little did he think that so soon after his visit to his " old 
home," he must pass to his home where the angels dwell. 
On the 15th of February, 1862, he fell fighting bravely for 
the " old home," with the " God bless you " of his many 
relatives and friends still warm in his heart. 

It is sometimes said of those who die on beds of tran- 
quillity at home, " They died happy." Doty died triumphant. 
Just at the moment he was struck, he was urging on his 
comrades, crying, " On, on boys, the day is ours ! " The 
ball passed through his heart. He did not speak afterwards ; 
but (says Captain Marsh, in whose arms he died), " A bright 
smile beamed on his countenance.''^ 

He said to his mother when he parted from her for the 
last time, " I will put my trust in God." He left home with 
gloomy forebodings ; but he said he would rather the great- 
est evil should befall him than miss going with his regiment. 
If he had delayed at home a half a day longer he could not 
have been at the battle of Donelson. He reached St. 
Louis just as the regiment was embarking. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 45 

Colonel Tiittle says in a letter published in the " Iowa 
State Register," shortly after the battle of Donelson, " I 
don't know how reports will reach you at home, but here we 
are all covered with glory. Sergeant Doty was amongst the 
bravest of the brave, and died like a hero." 

The following tribute written by D. C. R. appeared 
shortly after the death of N. W. Doty : — 

" ' Onward, hurrah, onward, my boys, 
The Second Iowa leads the van.' 
And marching, bravely, firmly on, 
Young Doty fell. No coward heart, 
No faltering there ; the cannon's roar, 
The whistling bullet, bursting bomb, 
Had not a sound to pale his lip 
Or blanch his cheek. How sweet the smile 
That o'er his features calmly spread. 
As victory seemed within his grasp. 

Why weep ye, friends? His soul has fled 
To realms of beauty, there to raise 
New anthems to his Maker's praise." 

Weeks was born in Hendricks County, Indiana, on the 
loth day of August, 1842. The following well written ac- 
count of this boy was prepared by his father, Dr. John G. 
Weeks, and recorded in copies of the Bible purchased with 
the back pay due Theodore at the time of his death. These 
were presented by Dr. Weeks to each of his surviving 
children to commemorate their fallen brother. 

DR. weeks' account OF THE LIFE OF HIS SON. 

.... "Upon the appearance of President Lincoln's first 
proclamation calling for volunteer soldiers to aid in putting 
down the Rebellion of 1861, he embraced the very first 
opportunity to enlist as a private soldier, very much to our 
surprise, as he had lost two fingers from his right hand, 
thus rendering him forever free from any military service 
under a draft. He insisted so strongly that it was his 
duty to go, that we gave our consent, though he was under 
our control, being still a minor. On the mustering of his 



46 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

company at Keokuk, Iowa, he was rejected by the U. S. 
mustering officer for disability. Still determined to serve 
his country he, with the assistance of an officer (General 
Crocker), appealed from the decision of the mustering 
officer to the War Department of the United States. While 
awaiting the decision of the Department a much better 
position, pecuniarily, came within his reach, but he de- 
clined, saying that he would only go into the army to 
fight for his country. The decision of the Department 
was favorable to his wishes, and he was mustered into 
the service of the United States. This is the only in- 
stance that has ever come to our knowledge of an appeal 
to the War Department for the privilege of serving in the 
capacity of a private soldier. 

" Shortly after entering active service he wrote in his 
journal, ' The world owes fame and position to all who 
earn it ; and I will have just so much of its emoluments as 
I can win by honorable means, and no more ; for I would 
rather live and die in obscurity than sacrifice the noblest 
attribute of man, my honor, till now untarnished. This is 
my platform, and, by the help of One who controls the 
actions of all, I will never accept any other.' After several 
months' service, Sept. 13th, 1861, he wrote, 'I am deter- 
mined to remain in the service of my country vmtil her 
rights are established and her wrongs avenged, and if the 
chances of war require my Ufe, it shall he a loHling sacrifice 
on the altar of Liberty I ' 

" After months of trials and hardship and severe sick- 
ness, he is found doing his duty with his regiment at Fort 
Donelson. At the time of the order for the Second Iowa 
to make the ever memorable charge upon the enemy's 
works, he was at his place and ready for duty. Without a 
word spoken to any one he went forward with his regiment 
under the terrible fire of the enemy, up the hill and into the 
enemy's outer works. Here, after about a half hour's en- 
gagement, he was instantly killed by a rifle-ball in his 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 47 

temple. He fell at the age of nineteen years and six 
months. He was not permitted to know that he aided 
materially in gaining one of the greatest victories of the 
war. He died for his country ! 

" In his pocket Bible found after the battle, his captain, 
(who was afterwards himself mortally wounded in the 
battle of Corinth), wrote the following tribute to his mem- 
ory : — 

" ' Fort Donelson, Feh. 20, 1862. 

" ' I wish here to record my testimony that the owner of 

this Book, during his connection with my company, was a 

good soldier, always ready to do his duty, as he understood 

it. He was ever active, energetic, and intelligent, and died 

bravely in his place, while fighting with his company and 

regiment at the charge of the Second Iowa, which was 

followed by the surrender of this fort to the Union forces. 

" ' NOAH W. MILLS, 
Capt. Co. D., 2d Iowa Infantry Volunteer's.^ " 



U i 



The following reminiscences concerning Theodore 
Weeks may not be uninteresting in addition to what has 
been given. 

During the night before the charge, the men were lying 
on the ground before little fires they had made to keep 
themselves from freezing. Some one said to Theodore : 
" Weeks, you are burning your coat." " O," he replied, 
" that is no matter ; I shall not want it long." 

He was very strong and active, and had saved two men 
from drowning by his expertness in swimming. There were 
few better marksmen. He could fire right and left, and 
was selected as a sharp-shooter. He was popular among 
his companions ; every one was his friend. He enlisted at 
the first meeting in Des Moines to raise troops ; was very 
temperate in his eating and drinking, and exemplary 
in his deportment. A chaplain who conversed with him a 



48 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

short time before the battle of Donelson, says : " Weeks 
thought earnestly of religious matters, and his conduct was 
that of an exemplary Christian." 

ARMIN YOUNG. 

The relatives of many of the dead live remote, and I 
have not been able, in many instances, to gain any infor- 
mation concerning them, except what is given by comrades, 
and what I have gleaned from the Adjutant General's re- 
ports. But I think that I have not failed to preserve the 
names of all enlisting from this county who died in the ser- 
vice. 

Armin Young was discharged from his company, Aug. 
9, 1861, at Bird's Point, Mo., for disability. Born in 
Hebron, N. H., in the year 1833, he was twenty-eight years 
old when he enlisted — a man of good education ; a school- 
teacher by profession ; he taught in Mr. J. C. Jordan's 
district. Walnut township, Polk County, Iowa, the winter 
before he enlisted. A very quiet, moral, and temperate 
young man. " Never in his life," says a friend, " did he 
taste of any kind of intoxicating liquors." He had been 
a resident of Polk County about three years when the 
war began. His health was poor during the whole time 
he was a soldier. He died of consumption in Des Moines, 
Feb. 13th, 1862, and was buried in the city cemetery. 

SERGEANT HIRAM CALVIN COOK. 

The next one of the members of Company D called 
away by death, was Hiram Calvin Cook. At my request, 
the Rev. J. M. Chamberlain (who had been long acquainted 
with Hiram C. Cook) prepared the following beautiful sketch 
of his life and character. One of the most promising and 
talented young men of our land, he would doubtless have 
risen to great eminence in the world had he lived. But he 
gave his life for the cause of his country. His comrades 
say '* he killed himself doing duty." 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 49 



REV. J. M. chamberlain's ACCOUNT OF H. C. COOK. 

The pen can draw the faintest outlines only of a noble 
soul. And to have known and loved is to render all me- 
morial sketches painfully meagre and heartless, since its 
real history is written by the soul itself in other souls. As 
waxen fruits cannot be permeated with the luscious juices, 
so the aroma of a soul cannot be borrowed ; nor the fra- 
grance of character be imprisoned in words. 

Yet it is good to linger, in memory, about a manly 
spirit, and that is a kindly ministry which leads us to draw 
often from' the wells of our purest remembrances, and 
burnish often the richest jewels of our affections. In such 
help is the value of a brief record of such a life. By such 
labor we seek not so much to preserve the vicissitudes of the 
soldier's experiences as to put on record the value of that 
life, that we may not forget the purchase price of our 
national life and honor, nor fail to prize it as we ought. 

Hiram C. was the youngest of six sons of William and 
Eliza Cook. His brothers all died before he was taken. 
He was born at New Hartford, Litchfield County, Conn., 
Dec. 5th, 1837. 

Though in moderate circumstances, his parents gave him 
the rich endowment of a firm and vigorous physical and 
mental constitution. He had from them the greatest boon, 
a Christian home and nurture to guard and guide, and 
form his infancy and youth. By them the foundation of 
his character and manhood was laid in the principles and 
precepts of the Gospel — with a good common education. 
As a true son, his heart was ever full of reverent and grate- 
ful affection. 

In person he was manly and marked. Nearly six feet 
in height, his shoulders were broad and square, chest full, 
muscles well developed ; head large and well formed, high 
and broad forehead ; eyes large, prominent, piercing ; 



50 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

brows firm, and in rest heavy — bearing assurance of strong 
convictions and resolute purposes ; lips not too thin or com- 
pressed for thoughts of kindness and deep emotions. His 
complexion was fair ; his broad, full, open face was the pic- 
ture of manliness and greatness of soul. His voice was 
deep-toned and rich — few voices more so; his manner 
easy and dignified, in speech and action. Sincere and 
genial, he won much by first impressions, and confirmed 
them easily. Richly and rarely gifted by Nature, her mark 
of nobility was gracefully worn by him, and easily recog- 
nized by all. 

His temperament was well balanced and composed, yet 
his emotive nature was quick, delicate, gushing, at times 
impetuous in action, and self-forgetful. Worthy objects 
engaged his sympathies quickly and generously. 

Hence he made ardent friends easily, and was ever wel- 
comed in the social circle. He did not belie their first 
impressions. 

His mind was of the hill type, rugged, fresh, versatile, 
independent, and frank. He loved. the free, the equal, the 
just, and the charitable, so ardently that he scorned the 
false, the bigoted, the intriguing, and the uncharitable, even 
to the verge of being unjust and uncharitable to.wards those 
in whom he discovered such characteristics. As he would 
know others, he was willing to be known by all. 

Because of his rare gifts and characteristics his friends 
were many and warm, and their hopes and expectations 
concerning his success in life were high. 

His Education. — From boyhood, life spread out before 
him so invitingly, so crowded with grand and manly oppor- 
tunities for every one, so needing a strong impulsion for the 
right and true from every young man ; the field for every 
power was so broad ; the fruits of good living, wise think- 
ing, and earnest acting hung before him so temptingly, that 
he wished to lay his foundations deep and broad in the cul- 
ture of his own mind. He felt that primary truth, that he 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 51 

does best for the world who does the best for his own mind 
and soul, and he who fills the fountain of his influences 
with the best ingredients shall bless others most when it 
overflows. Hence he desired a thorough college education, 
and was led to hope for it by the promise of assistance 
from a brother who was cut off too soon to realize any of 
his noble purposes. 

Hirana never forgot the generous promise or the noble 
character of that brother, but was wont to say that he 
" meant to be worthy of that brother's expectations." 
Though dead, he still spoke and shaped another's character 
and aims, as every truly manly spirit does. His education 
was not carried on, however, beyond a few terms in Willis- 
ton Seminary, East Hampton, Mass. His own recorded 
testimony is : "I had always, since a small boy, cherished 
the hope that I might see my way to a collegiate education. 
But when I entered school last spring I bade farewell to 
this long indulged desire, and gave up the idea of ever 
getting more than an ordinary academic education. It 
caused me a struggle to give up an idea that had been with 
me so long, but I am now confirmed in the decision I then 
made and do not, on the whole, regret it." 

He studied and taught alternately, as his finances re- 
quired, until his twenty-third year, when he relinquished 
the hope of obtaining a classical education, and chose the 
law as his profession. He was a fine scholar, with a well 
stored mind and valuable experience, having been principal 
of the Academy in his native town, and of the High School 
in Bristol, Conn. As a teacher he was eminently successful, 
both in imparting instruction and gaining the enthusiastic 
good will of pupils and patrons. A warm friend, and ar- 
dent educator, expressed the hope that he " would fail in 
every other business and be obliged to return to the school 
again." 

His Christian Character. — At the age of sixteen he 
gave himself up to the claims and service of Christ, uniting 



52 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

with the Congijegational Church in New Hartford. From 
that time he was ever known as an earnest Christian, and 
all his plans were affected by his Christian hopes. This, 
perhaps, more than anything else, gave strength to his 
desire for a complete education ; this furnished the high- 
est motives, and spread before him the chief incentives 
of the life which he began so well, and hoped to live so 
nobly. He chose the ministry for his life work, as above 
all others to be desired, if the way was open to him for a 
suitable preparation for its duties. He had thought of a 
missionary life among the heathen, as some of his early 
writings show. The way was not opened early to him, 
and then it seemed too long — involving years of de- 
pendence upon friends, when he longed to be minister- 
ing to them and bearing for them the burdens which age 
imposes. 

It is not easy to justly estimate the sacrifice which he 
made from the most generous and filial motives ; the 
pleasures and honors and all the advantages which a well 
disciplined and richly stored mind may hope to gain in and 
through the Gospel ministry. Yet, like the general tone 
of his life, he did it nobly, in the belief that his duty lay in 
another sphere, and the cause of Christ would not suffer 
thereby. He entered upon the preparation for a new 
sphere with the same Christian ambition to do what he 
could to reform and elevate the society of which he was a 
part. A friend writes : " He often said, ' if I could 
live to some purpose, do great good, so that when life is 
over I can be satisfied, it doesn't make so much difference 
how.'" 

His Professional Course. — Having chosen the law, 
he chose the West for his preparation and practice. He 
left home in April, and after visiting friends, entered the 
law office of S. V. White, Esq., at Des Moines, Iowa, 
Aug. 1st, 1860. 

Here he showed great aptness for the life he had chosen, 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 53 

in that he was quick to perceive the principle involved, 
and strong, logical, and earnest in applying it — skillful, 
but not technical ; apt in the use of its spirit rather than the 
forms of law. Few offered greater promise of eminent suc- 
cess. Before his studies were completed, and before his 
admission to the bar, his country called for his services in 
a new sphere, and he left all to obey the higher call. 

His Military History. — Rebellion had raised its 
bloody hand in obedience to slavery, and sprung full armed 
into the arena to fight for disunion and slavery forever. 
With her flag rent and trailing in the dust, her honor 
and life in imminent peril, the Republic sent out her call 
to the young men, saying : " Who is for his nation ? Let 
him stand forth armed for battle." Young Cook was one 
of the first to answer, " Here am I : send me." 

His character as heretofore sketched will show with 
what zeal and firm resolve of Christian patriotism he gave 
himself to the work of raising the first company, '' The 
Capitol Guards," commanded by Captain, afterwards 
Major- General, M. M. Crocker. 

His feelings were intense, and he often expressed his 
amazement that so many hesitated, or that any parent 
should dissuade a son. To some he seemed to be carried 
away by excitement. But he was impelled by a genuine 
enthusiasm, which finds its motive power in deep conviction 
from calm and earnest deliberation. He was deliberate. 
He thought carefully and well, and hence was intensely 
earnest. More than most young men he had watched and 
studied and understood the forces of freedom and oppres- 
sion, of republicanism and despotism, of God and Baal, 
which contended in our land, and he comprehended the 
desperate nature, the extent and importance, of the con- 
flict. Hence he felt the full urgency of the call. His en- 
thusiasm was laid in years of thought and fixed principles. 
He saw all he loved and hoped for at stake when slavery 
threw down the gauntlet before him, and knew well what 



54 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

he was giving to save it. To his pastor, who expressed the 
fear that he might be too much excited by his surround- 
ings, he replied, " I never engaged in anything more con- 
siderately ; or made it a subject of more earnest prayer for 
guidance, and there is no doubt about the course of duty 
for me." To friends at home he wrote, " I have weighed 
the matter calmly and deliberately, and I think it is my 
duty to go Never did my blood boil with indigna- 
tion as now, and I am willing for one, to show by my 
actions that I am ready to support my country's flag, and 
vindicate the supremacy of her laws, and to put down 
traitors and rebels." . ..." I want you all to say ' Go ! '" 
When friends feared that he had not well considered, he 
wrote, " I have thought of my mother, my friends, my 
studies, and my Addie, without excitement, and cannot find 
a single excuse for me to stay ; and my convictions are 
that I ought to do as I have done. I know the God we 
trust sanctions the course." Again, " I would that my 
friends, if it should be that I am to fall in battle, would 
rejoice that they had a friend to lose in so good a cause as 
the one we are engaged in." He. gave it as one reason 
why he should enlist, that he was prepared to die in Christ 
if he should fall in battle. He went from his closet to the 
meetinof where he enlisted. 

The company (D) was sworn into the service of the 
United States by Lieutenant Alexander Chambers, at Keo- 
kuk, on the 27th day of May, 1861, Cook being orderly 
sergeant. At Keokuk he wrote : " This soldiering is a very 
new feature of life to me. I should always be for peace, if 
necessity did not compel us into war. I have now been in it 
long enough to experience something of this new life, but 
nothing to what is to come. I have not a murmur for the 
deprivations thus far, nor do I intend to have at any time. 
Life and health must not be considered of too much value. 
The loss of either, with duty done, is far better than the 
most perfect possession of either, and the knowledsre that 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 65 

it is purchased by cowardice or neglect of duty." At an- 
other time he writes : " I never went to any enterprise 
with more earnest prayer for guidance, and never witli a 
firmer conviction that my decision was riglit." " My hopes 
and prospects are nothing if the government is broken up." 

After some bloody battle he writes : " It is sad and 
terrible that so many lives must be lost. War is indeed a 
most hideous monster, when seen near by. I wish there 
was no necessity for this war. It saddens me whenever I 
think of the hearts that are bleeding now over the whole 
country. My sympathies are not wdth the shedding of 
blood. Though I hate the idea of secession with a per- 
fect hatred, yet' I believe I would far sooner pardon than 
slay a rebel. The medicine we are giving is very power- 
ful ; but you must remember, and so must all who sym- 
pathize with those who mourn, that the patient is a member 
of our family, and is very sick. It is our duty to do the 
best we can to get rid of the disease. The greatest physi- 
cians in the country have prescribed powder and ball as a 
sure cure, and we are bound to use powder and balls till 
there is a cure effected." 

His spirit can be seen from the words already quoted. 
Upon General Crocker's first visit to his home, a friend 
inquired about the soldierly qualities of young Cook. 
" Hiram Cook ! such a man as he ought to have a colonel's 
commission at once," was his reply. 

His whole military career was in Missouri, guarding the 
Hannibal and St. Joseph R. R. ; pursuing bands of maraud- 
ers, and other irregular warfare. The regiment entered 
Missouri June 14th, 1861, and August 2d was sent to Bird's 
Point ; August 14th it was ordered to Pilot Knob, to defend 
the place against Jeff*. Thompson. It was upon this last 
march that Cook was laid aside by sickness. Being heated, 
tired, and dusty with the march, he availed himself of what 
seemed to be a suitable place to bathe. Plunging in, he 
found that the water came from springs at the bottom, and 



^6 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

was very cold. His whole system was severely chilled, a 
bilious fever set in (or chill and fever) which entirely pros- 
trated him. He was sent to St. Louis, to the house of his 
aunt, Mrs. T. Spencer, whose kind offices very many will 
bear witness to with grateful hearts. Here he received atten- 
tions not surpassed by a mother's anxiety or a sister's ten- 
derness. He arrived there Aug. 24th, 1861. Soon after the 
disease took the form of violent spasms, continuing, at in- 
tervals, for several weeks, bringing him to death's door. 
Recovering slowly, his physicians advised his return to the 
East, as his best remedy, and he set out just two months 
after his arrival in St. Louis, and arrived safely, Oct. 26th, 
at the home of a sister living at Ravenna, Ohio. There he 
met Miss Addie S. Upson, of Waterbury, Conn., to whom 
he was betrothed before he left New England, and whom 
he loved truly. She was with him much until his death. 
He remained in Ravenna about two months, gaining but 
little, when he was advised to go to New England in the 
hope of greater benefit from the change of climate. To 
this he objected, " If I am able to go to New England, I 
am able to go to St. Louis, and my place is with my regi- 
ment." 

He could not be persuaded to apply for a discharge 
from the army. Yielding to the advice of his physicians 
and friends, he set out, and arrived in New Hartford, Conn., 
Dec. 26th. Hopes and fears alternated there until March 
25th, 1862, when death discharged him from the army of 
contestants here, to wear a victor's crown above. His 
death was caused by abscess in the lungs. 

His last days and hours were full of Christian sweetness 
and triumph. When a friend would comfort him with a 
precious promise, he seemed most thoughtful of others, and 
said, " Can you accept that ? " " Can that sustain you ? '* 
" I am .willing to leave all with Christ." 

When the last moments drew near, he gave one hand to 
his mother, and the other to her whose he was, and without 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 57 

a struggle or a groan, sunk into the arms of Him who is 
the " Resurrection and the Life." He left the conflict of 
Freedom and Union in the midst ; but he won the battle 
of life. His years were few, his success was full. A 
Christian soldier, he hoped to do much more here ; he laid 
broad foundations, and wrought out the plan of a noble 
superstructure ; but He, to whom all honor is due, was to 
be more honored by his rest from well-begun work. 

Such lives are the cost of a nation's sin ; such the price 
of peace and quietness to-day. 

The new-made graves of war in every part of our land 
contain the bodies which such souls animated ; sacrifices 
to offended Liberty ; self-immolated to save the principles 
upon which the Republic was planted, and by which alone 
it can live. They were not an ignorant horde of conscript 
serfs — but [freemen of royal blood, the jewels of the 
nation's mind, who wisely weighed their cause in their 
own, their children's, and the world's behalf, and did not 
hesitate to give their lives to save our sacred honor as a 
nation. No art can raise their monument; no sculptor's 
chisel, no painter's brush, no ready writer's pen, no poet's 
rarest flowers of speech or bursting clusters of his deep 
emotions. The school-house, the sanctuary in which their 
souls were nurtured, will speak most wisely of all that art 
can do. But there is an inspiration for their nation's 
life, from the holy deeds of men, by the power of which 
their monument shall be in the gratitude of unborn gene- 
rations, side by side with Washington and Warren, and 
all who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred 
honor, to give the Republic birth. As they pass before us, 
when we read the pages of our history, the martyred Lin- 
coln, immortal Emancipator, shall stand first upon the roll, 
and lead the long procession of spirits, as noble and as 
true, who sealed our liberties and cemented our Union 
with their blood. To that monument we leave the name 
and memory of Hiram Calvin Cook. 



5^ AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 



ANDREW SLATTEN. 

Andrew Slatten displayed from his youth uncommon 
love of books and study ; indeed, it was so strong a passion 
with him that when quite young he became entirely taken 
up with it, to the neglect of everything else. On his book 
his mind was riveted and nothing could draw it off. Once 
his father brought home a fine horse, and said to Andrew, 
" This horse is yours, provided you feed and care for it." 
Andrew was deHghted, took it to the stable, fed it and gave 
it water that 07ie time ; but after this, being engaged in his 
books as usual, he forgot his horse, and when his attention 
was called to it by his father, three days had elapsed since 
Andrew had thought of it ! but the horse had been well 
cared for by Mr. Slatten. 

Many anecdotes are told of him, showing how entirely his 
mind was abstracted from the world of reality. Once, it is 
said, in saddling a horse, he placed the saddle on wrong 
part before, and never noticed his mistake until he attempted 
to mount. His oddities led some to wonder whether he 
was really sane or not. His father sent him to college at 
Bloomington and Jacksonville, 111., where his love of study 
was gratified to some extent, and he acquired a good edu- 
cation. After leaving school he studied medicine for a 
time, and became a clerk in a drug store. After he 
arrived in Des Moines he studied law in the office of Judge 
Phillipps, and was admitted to the bar. He was elected 
Justice of the Peace. He was also a member of the 
Christian Church in Des Moines, and was giving considera- 
ble attention to religious matters when the war broke out 
— had even begun to think seriously of entering the min- 
istry, and did sometimes exhort from the pulpit. William 
Phillipps, on the occasion of Slatten's funeral, pronounced 
the oration, from which the following extract is taken : 

" The deceased was a native of the State of Illinois, born 
in McClain County, in December, 1833, where he resided 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 59 

during the greater part of his youth. He left Illinois in 
company with his parents in the year 1856, and located in 
this city. Here among us he continued to reside, quietly 
pursuing his studies, and afterwards actively engaging in 
the practice of law. In his daily walk and business rela- 
tions of life, he was quiet and unassuming, and always 
maintained an unblemished reputation. When the call 
was issued in the spring of 1861, by the Executive of this 
nation for volunteers to suppress this unholy Rebellion, and 
to maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and laws of 
the country, the deceased was the head of a family, having 
a wife and one child, who were, no doubt, dear to him as 
was his own life, and here too were his father and mother, 
sisters and brother. But he decided to give up all these, 
and to lay down his own life, if need be, for the country. 
He volunteered as a private in Company D, 2d Iowa Regi- 
ment, in this city." 

In the battle of Donelson, he fought with great courage. 
Capt. Mills says : 

" Andrew Slatten was wounded in three places — on the 
head, hand, and leg, while fighting in front regardless of 
consequences. He would not allow himself to be moved ; 
but got out of the way himself." 

A better account, and more interesting, of the part taken 
by him in this engagement, and what he suffered, cannot 
be given, than that given by himself in the only letter he 
wrote home after he was wounded : — 



"Fifth Street Hospital, St. Louis, ) 
March 1st, 1862. ) 

" Dear Father, — .... I heard that our regiment 
was going down South, so I left the hospital at Ironton and 
joined the regiment, and sure enough, it was not long till we 
received orders to move South, We went past Cairo, and 
Paducah, and up the Cumberland River, to Fort Donelson. 
We got there on St. Valentine's Day. You have heard all 



60 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

about the battle fought there, and it is no use for me to 
describe it. We had to stay out all night of the 14th without 
tents or blankets, and it .was very cold. I suffered more that 
night from cold than ever before in my life. The boys said 
they would rather storm the enemy's works on the morrow, 
than to stand the hardships of that night. The usual mis- 
haps of remaining out of provisions, etc., befell us ; but we 
got some pilot bread and some bacon just before going into 
battle, about 12 o'clock Saturday, the loth. Our regiment 
was on the extreme left, and it fell to our lot to lead the 
charge on the enemy's breastworks to the right. These 
breastworks were not in range of the gun-boats ; and field 
artillery could not feaze them ; so there was no chance but 
for the infantry to rush right over them. At the place 
where we charged, the rebel works were on top of a high 
hill with heavy timber fallen in all directions to prevent 
our approach ; but it was of no use. When we received 
the order '•Forward! ' we went up the hill in a full run, the 
rebels dropping our boys in rows, and we could not fire a 
shot until we got inside of the breastworks : then it was 
our time. The rebels ran in all directions, and we dropped 
them as they ran. I was lucky enough to escape unhurt 
till w^e got to the second embankment of the enemy, where 
just across the hollow, in the third entrenchment, a large 
body of rebels continued to fire on us. I got my eye on a 
bunch of them, and took sight every time I shot. Some- 
times I could see the man drop — thought at the time that 
I killed three. While I was shooting at this bunch, I re- 
ceived a shot in the shin, about half way from the knee to 
the ankle, breaking the small bone and making two holes 
in the calf of my leg. The surgeon says one was made by 
the ball and the other by a piece of bone. Before I was 
wounded I had my gun spoiled by being hit with a ball, so 
I had to take a fallen man's gun and use it. I was wounded 
about one o'clock, and it took me till nearly sundown to 
crawl off, and I almost froze. I was slightly wounded t^Yice 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 61 

in leaving the field. Once in the head by a small piece 
of shell, and once on the forefinger of the right hand, 
splitting the knuckle. Neither of these wounds amounts to 
much. My wounds are not at all dangerous. I would 
write plainer but for the wound on my knuckle. 

" Yours, affectionately, 

"A. SLATTEN." 

He lingered in hospital at St. Louis until towards the 
latter part of April, 1862, when he died of his wounds. His 
remains were brought home by his friends, and he was 
buried by the side of Weeks and Doty. 

He bore up under his sickness with great fortitude, never 
losing hope as long as there was any room for hope. When 
the surgeon told him that there were nine chances for 
him to die to one for him to recover, he did not despair. 
" I hold on," said he, " to that one'' But when at last he 
saw that he must die, he went calmly about arranging his 
affairs for departure. 

" His last moments," says Judge Phillipps, " were the most 
courageous of his whole life, and far outshone the courage 
displayed at Donelson. View him as he sits half-reclining 
upon his bed, calmly calculating his chances for recovery, 
and the whisperings of a wife, counteracting his fears, saying, 
^ You feel better ; I know you look better ; I think you will 
get well now ! ' And the kind words of a parent in unison 
with those of a wife, counteracting the thought of death. 
Still he meditates — still he calculates his chances of recov- 
ery, and does not suffer the kind emotions of a wife and 
parent to overcome him, and he be caught sleeping at his 
post of duty. But like a true sentinel, he watches faith- 
fully, and at last he discerns the approach of the arch-ene- 
my. Death. With calmness he dictates his will, while his 
attending physician commits it to parchment. Then hear 
him give charge to that parent concerning his body, and 
requesting that no one tinctured ivith enmity to his country 



62 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

should he permitted to handle it ; and lastly, hear him say, ' I 
am now ready and willing to die.' " 

He was a strong man physically and mentally. He spent 
nearly the whole of his time, after he was wounded and in 
hospital, reading the Bible and meditating of God and 
eternity. 

CASPER S. BRADY. 

I KNEW Casper from a little boy ; he could not have been 
over twelve years old when I first became acquainted with 
him ; was sixteen when he enlisted ; one of the most hand- 
some boys I have ever seen — as fair as a fair maiden — 
and his innocent soul was as beautiful as his person. He 
says in a letter to his mother, written from Benton Barracks, 
Dec. 22d, 1861 : — 

" Tell grandma that I am going to take her advice about 
being a good boy. I read my Bible while the other boys 
are playing cards and dancing." 

The comeliness of his person, and the purity of his inno- 
cent heart, lead me, now that he is dead, to associate him in 
my mind with the heavenly. He was so young his soul 
knew no love but that of father and mother, home and 
country. 

In the battle of Donelson he was wounded in the knee. 
He did not repine. He was hopeful ; but anxious to come 
home. Casper was no rough soldier. He was just a child, 
in his heart. " I wish I was there to see grandmother, and 
all of you," he says in a letter. And I will here give 
further extracts from his letters : — 

" Fort Donelson, Tenn. 
" Dear Parents, — You will be surprised on receiving 
a letter from me at this place. I have been down here 
about ten days. We have had pretty hard times since we 
came down. I suppose you have heard of the great battle. 
It came off about one week as^o. It was an awful battle. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 63 

It lasted about four days ; but the main part was fought 
the last day. There were forty-six killed and one hun- 
dred and sixty wounded in our regiment, which charged the 
breastworks and forced the rebels to surrender. I was 
wounded slightly in the right knee ; but it is getting well 
very fast. I think I will be able to travel in a week or two ; 
then I am coming home. I have got the ball I was wounded 
with. It was a spent canister ball. I will show it to you 
when I get home." 

" St. Louis, 3farch 10, 1862. 

" My dear Brother, — I try to keep my spirits up as 
well as I can ; but I begin to feel a little tired of lying so 
long. I think that I shall be up in about two or three 
weeks, and when I am able to move about and get fresh air 
and exercise, I think that I shall get strength and feel 
better. I have every reason to be satisfied with the care 
and attention that I get. The lady that writes this is very 
accommodating to me. The man who lies by my side is 
very good company for me. He says he is going to take as 
much interest in me as a brother. We are having beautiful 
weather now. The sun shines so cheerfully into my room. 
Tell grandmother I hope to get home and see her before 
she leaves. It will be too bad if I miss seeing her." 



& 



" St. Louis, March Uih, 1862. 
" My dear Sister, — I think my wound is improving 
slowly. I know it is. The erysipelas has made its ap- 
pearance in my leg, caused by my wound — not at all dan- 
gerous. I will have a great deal to tell you all about the 



battle when I get home." 



When Casper enlisted, his father (J. M. Brady, Esq.) 
resided at Saylor Grove, Polk County, Iowa. He now 
lives in Oceola, Clark County, Iowa. He gave me in a 
letter the following account of Casper's enlistment and 
death : — 



64 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" OcEOLA, Sept. 16, 1866. 

. . . . " After the war broke out, and there were calls for 
volunteers, Casper would often say he thought he ought to 
volunteer and fight for his country. His mother and I 
would tell him he was too young ; but he would still insist 
on going. His whole mind seemed to be taken up with 
the thoughts of the war, and he could talk of nothing else. 
Finally, in the fall of 1861, when Captain Mills was back 
at Des Moines recruiting for the Second Iowa, he volun- 
teered. At St. Louis he was rejected on account of being 
too young ; but was taken as a drummer boy, because, he 
insisted on going. He was wounded at Donelson, and lay 
in the hospital at St. Louis under medical treatment for 
about six weeks. I went down to see him, and was with 
him about two weeks before he died. On our way home I 
was much distressed, fearing that I could not get him home 
alive, and he would often say, ' Father, why do you look so 
cast down ? ' And he would tell me not to grieve for him, 
for he was well, and was going home to his heavenly 
Father. While he was dying a beautiful smile played 
around his lips and his bright eyes were cast, apparently, 
to heaven." ^ 

On the last page of the same sheet is written in a mother's 
tremulous hand, what to the author of these memoirs is 
most gratifying (and the reader will allow me to insert it 
here). May our heavenly Father console her for the loss 
of her son ; who, as she believes, and as we all believe, is 
now in heaven. 

"Dear Friend, — I would like to say a few words of 
thanks to you for the interest you have taken and are still 
taking in the noble soldier boys that left their homes and 
friends and all that was dear to them for their country's 

cause. May the God of Heaven bless you for your labors ! 

"ANGELINE BRADY." 

Casper S. Brady was born in Iowa. He enlisted Nov. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 65 

21, 1861, and died April 30, 1862. He was buried in the 
grave-yard near Saylor Grove, and handsome marble stones 
were placed at the head and foot of his grave by his 
parents. 

LIEUTENANT JOHN H. .WATSON, 
Once City Marshal of Des Moines, an Englishman by 
birth, came to this country when quite young, and lived 
near Cincinnati, Ohio. He had resided in Des Moines five or 
SIX years when he enlisted ; was a master bricklayer ; built 
the Sherman Block ; and was foreman in building the 
Court House. He was never married. He died at the 
age of 28, April 9, 1862, from the effects of a wound re- 
ceived in the battle of Shiloh. 

Watson was first a private in Company D ; but was pro- 
moted to Second Lieutenant of Company F, 13th Iowa In- 
fantry. He received promotion chiefly through the influence 
of Colonel Crocker. While Crocker was connected with 
the Second Iowa, Watson nursed him in his sickness with 
such care that Crocker felt most grateful to him. Wat- 
son was greatly attached to his friends ; true to a friend, 
but he never forgave an enemy. His dog followed him 
all through the service. Watson expressed a wish that, if 
he should fall, his dog and gun might be sent to Mr. 
Alexander Bowers, of Des Moines, his intimate friend ; 
but his request was not complied with. 

Crocker contemplated bringing Watson's remains home 
for burial. He says in a letter to Mrs. C. ; — 

" Poor John I he died the death of a brave man. He 
was delirious up to the time of his death, and had no knowl- 
edge of his danger. His whole talk was of me ; and his 
last words were : ' The old man (as he called me) is cough- 
ing.' I cried bitterly over him, and I cry now in thinking 
about him. I feel his loss severely. I had him carefully 
buried, and if I live I will move him home, and we will 
bury him among our little ones." 



Q6 AMERICAN" PATRIOTISM. 

LIEUTENANT KOBEET ALLEN, Jr., 

Was a son of General Robert Allen of the Regular Army, 
and a nephew of Mr. B. F, Allen of Des Moines. He was a 
member of the Capitol Guards during the winter of 1860-1, 
and enlisted as a private in Company D, May 4, 1861, at 
the age of twenty ; was elected 4th corporal, and served in 
that capacity until towards the close of the year, when he re- 
ceived promotion to the office of First Lieutenant in the 1st 
U. S. Cavalry, Army of the Potomac ; was in the campaign 
before Richmond, under McClellan, until the battle of Fair 
Oaks, where he was wounded June 1, 1862. Being left on 
the field, he fell into the hands of the enemy, and was 
carried to Richmond. The rebel surgeons amputated his 
leg, the bone being badly shattered. After lying in hospital 
for a short time he was exchanged and sent to 'New York. 
There it was found necessary to again amputate his limb. 
From the effects of these repeated operations he did not 
recover — death occurring to him before his relatives knew 
of his exchange. 

Robert Allen, Jr., was bom in Portland, Maine. His 
mother died when he was a child. His father, General 
Allen, served in Florida and in Mexico, and was given a 
command in California. Thither he carried his son, and 
there the child grew up. After the beginning of the Rebel- 
lion General Allen was ordered to Washington, and ap- 
pointed Quartermaster- General of the Western Army, with 
head-quarters at St. Louis. Robert preceded his father a 
few months, coming overland to Des Moines, in November, 
1860. Until the war broke out he was employed as a clerk 
in Mr. B. F. Allen's bank. Born and bred a soldier, he was 
one of the first to enter his name on the list, when Crocker 
began to enroll his company. He loved the profession of 
arms, and coveted a position in the regular service. His 
father had marked out for him a diiferent course in life, 
and would not give him any encouragement in the way that 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 67 

Robert's own heart was set upon. But Robert being active 
and persevering, well educated, intelligent, and of soldierly 
appearance, was not long in finding friends to make his 
wishes known to the proper authorities. Through the in- 
fluence and recommendation of Crocker, Curtis, and others, 
he soon obtained his coveted position — a regular soldier 
in the line of promotion. From Second Lieutenant he 
rose to First. Proud to be always at his post of duty, 
honorable and brave, he doubtless would have risen to 
high command, but for its being ordered otherwise. An 
accomplished scholar, a good mathematician, and master 
of the French language, there was not in our army a young 
man of greater intelligence and promise. 

THOMAS STEWART BIRCH 

Left school and enlisted as a recruit under Captain Mills, 

November 23, 1861. A young man of superior mind, much 

attached to books, desirous of a good education, he loved 

his home, honored his father and mother, and was religious 

and patriotic. He writes : — 

''March 17, 1862. 

"Our fleet is now moving up the Tennessee River — 

something like eighty boats. Our brigade is in the rear, 

lying on the river opposite a little town by the name of 

Savannah, near the southern line of the State of Tennessee. 

We have been here four or five days. I am proud to know 

that I am a member of such a brave regiment, and that I 

was with it in the thickest of the fight, and after it was over 

helped to take care of the wounded for three days and 

nights. The first night I worked all night helping to load 

ambulances with the wounded. Mother, I believe your 

prayers have been answered in my behalf. I have never 

forgot those solemn promises I made you before I left 

home, when you took me by the hands with tears in your 

eyes, and said, ' Thomas, I want you to be a good boy, and 

read your Bible.' I am reading it regularly through. I 



68 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

am now in Judfjes. Father, I never can be thankful 
enough to you for the strict manner in which you have 
raised me ; for I now regard and realize its benefits. I 
believe that God makes all things work together for good. 
Don't forget to pray for me." 

In another of his letters he says to his parents : — 

" I am glad to hear that you are still so mindful of me, and 
that you still remember me in your prayers ; for if I was 
ever surrounded with associations that called for the pray- 
ers of pious friends, for God to give me grace to discharge 
my duties as a Christian, it is now. I spend my time (or 
what I can of it) in reading my Bible, or some other good 
book, and I have never been insulted while doing so." 

Birch died August 8, 1862. He had been growing 

thin and weak for some time. 

" Corinth, August 2, 1862. 

" I am not so well as I would wish to be ; still I stay on 
duty nearly all the time. I am very weak and can't stand 
hard drilling. I don't know what is really the matter of 
me — still keep losing flesh and strength, and feel very bad. 
I try to shake it off and go ahead. 

" Mother, I am still trying to live religious — still keep 
up my altar of prayer, and it is really the only place of en- 
joyment I have to go to ; and I never go there without im- 
ploring God to remember you and answer your prayers in 
my behalf. Mother, as you love me, pray for me. Father, 
as you love me, pray for me. Tell my brothers in the 
Church, when they inquire after me, that if they desire my 
welfare to pray for me. I finished reading my Bible 
through some time ago>" 

Thomas S. Birch was a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church ; 21 years old when he enlisted ; born in 
Indiana ; had resided in Saylor Grove, Polk County, Iowa, 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 69 

for several years. He came off duty on the morning of 
August 8, 1862, having stood guard all night and the previ- 
ous day. He was observed to be sinking very rapidly, and 
was taken to the hospital. On the same day, about six 
o'clock in the evening, while sitting on his cot conversing 
with a comrade, he was struck by the arrow of death. He 
died of disease of the heart. 
t. 

EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF THOMAS STEWART 

BIRCH. 

" Monday^ November 24, 1861. — I bade farewell to 
friends and home, and took up quarters in Des Moines 
under Captain Mills. Spent the evening at Forest Home 
Seminary. 

" Saturday, November 29. — On board the steamer War- 
saw, bound for St. Louis. Ice running and weather cold. 

" Sunday, November 30. — At St. Louis. Walked to bar- 
racks, about four miles. After dinner, review of all the 
troops here — between twenty and thirty thousand, in- 
fantry and cavalry. 

" Tuesday, December 23. — At McDowell's College, 
guarding prisoners ; large stone building belonging to Mc- 
Dowell of the rebel army. Second Iowa and 25th Indi- 
ana occupy boarding-houses — very comfortable quarters. 

" Thursday, 25. — Christmas. I was out in town ; did 
not see much ; stores closed ; saloons open. Friends of 
secesh prisoners brought them a fine dinner. General 
Curtis ordered them away, when the ladies stepped up to 
him, and looked up into his face so smilingly he could not 
refuse ; so the prisoners got the dinner. 

" Tuesday, 30. — Secesh citizens getting bolder ; come 
up to the guard lines ; wave their hats and handkerchiefs. 
Colonel Tuttle came back to-day. He is loved by the 
boys as a father. 

" Monday, February 3, 1862. — Clear and cold ; on street 
guard No. 3, 2d relief Two or three fellows came driving 



70 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

up along the line with sleigh and horses ; cheered for 
JefF. Davis ; Lieutenant Godfrey caught hold of the horses 
and stopped them. The men were arrested and put in 
military prison. Horses and sleigh sent to head-quarters. 

" Fehruary 7. — Cold and snowing. Off guard at seven 
o'clock. News by extra that Fort Henry is taken ; great 
excitement ; loud cheering from all points ; flags run out 
from the upper windows ; orders to march in twenty-four 
hours. 

'■^ Saturday, Feb. ^. — Very cold ; preparing to go away. A 
young lady presents the regiment a wreath of flowers — 
red, white, and blue. It is placed on top of the flag-staff. 

" Sunday, 9. — Prisoners sent to Alton. On parade this 
evening an order was read from General Hamilton re- 
turning thanks to 2d Iowa for gentlemanly kindness and 
good behavior towards the prisoners of war while in our 
hands. 

^''Monday, 10. — Pleasant. The first thing that attracted 
my attention after breakfast was a crowd of boys at the 
upper end of the college, with one of McDowell's old 
cannons. Three or four of them get hold of it and run up 
and down the street ; then they get an old mortar for 
throwing bombs, load it up — putting in a lot of paper and 
ashes ; a fellow touches it off with a cigar ; throws the 
ashes and paper the length of the square. We receive 
orders to be ready to march at 2 1-2 o'clock. In line, the 
Adjutant calls the attention of the battalion. He reads an 
order stating that the Iowa Second had broken into the Mu- 
seum and destroyed property, and as a punishment should 
march out of the city without music and banners. Few of 
the regiment hear the order, and the regiment is near the 
boat before the men know why we are marching thus. A 
madder set of men were never seen ! I believe if General 
Hamilton were to make his appearance, some of the men 
would shoot him. 

" Tuesday, 11. — Weather pleasant. We are sailing down 
the Father of Waters. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 71 

^'TTiursday, 13. — Warm and pleasant. We are now roll- 
ing up the Cumberland ; river high ; fine country on both 
sides ; has the appearance of being a rich soil. Inhabitants 
out waving hats and handkerchiefs. Stopped about six- 
teen miles below Fort Donelson to wood. Colonel Tuttle 
the first on shore. He says '• Come, boys, let's load her up ; 
there is a chance for a fight." Here they come, officers and 
privates. The Colonel upsets the wood-pile ; we carry it 
a-board. Up with the fleet at 3 o'clock, and all move on 
together. Ordered to be ready with 40 rounds cartridges 
and two days' rations, to get off at any moment. Moved 
along until dark, when it commenced raining. The Colonel 
told us to lie down and sleep. 

^^ Friday, 14:. — This morning tied up some time be- 
fore daylight to a tree. It stormed all night; about an 
inch of snow on the ground. About 9 o'clock we moved 
up a few rods and landed ; fell in line and marched off for 
the fort. Marched over hills and hollows, and through 
mud-holes, until we came up to our lines back of the fort. 
Came to a halt about 2 o'clock. Soon the cannons beofan 
to roar, and sharp-shooters kept picking the rebels off. 
Some of our boys stepped over the hill to try their luck. 
Three o'clock, moved up in line of battle ; stood until even- 
ing ; then moved down on the extreme left of General 
Smith's division and camp ; have no tents nor blankets ; 
we have to build up big fires and stand around them. 

^'■Saturday, 15. — Still cold. Our two days' rations run 
out ; have to send off for more. This morning there was a 
very heavy battle fought down on the right ; lasted until 
noon. Now our crackers and meat have come ; we eat about 
half a dinner ; scarcely done eating when we are ordered 
to fall in, and are divided into two divisions. Colonel 
Tuttle commands the left, Baker the right, which follows 
about 20 or 30 rods in the rear. The front division reaches 
the hill, and is ordered to double-quick and charge over the 
breastworks ; second division ordered to follow ; hill steep ; 



72 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

trees cut and fallen every way to hinder our speed, but we 
make the top. When half way up the secesh let out on us, 
and dropped a great many of our boys ; the rest of us 
only hurried the faster to reach the breastworks and spring 
over, showing our officers and generals how the 2d Iowa can 
fight. Advance until the rebels begin raking us with grape 
and canister-; we take shelter in the rebel works, where we 
remain all night. About sundown we find Lieutenant 
Ensign badly wounded. I and a number of others are sent 
to carry him to the hospital, where his wounds are bound up. 
I have to stay and help until we get all the wounded off. 

'•'- Tuesday ^\%, — All the wounded off. Squad come to 
bury the dead. We were hunting their pockets to see 
what their names were. Found in one man's a Catholic 
Mass Book, in which he had written two verses, which I 
will copy : — 

" ' William Egan is my name, 
Ireland my nation ; 
King's County was my dwelling-place, 
Heaven my expectation. 

" ' When I am dead and in my grave, . 

And all my bones are rotten, 
This little book will tell my name 

When I am quite forgotten.' 

" The man's face had been shot all to pieces. 

" Thursday, 20. — Started for our regiment, which is in 
Fort Donelson. Went over the old hill and battle-ground 
where we fought Saturday. The hill looks as high again 
as it did. Only wonder is that more of us were not killed, 
but as good luck would have it, the rebels overshot us. 

''^Thursday, 27. — Went over battle-ground and cut some 
canes to send home. Boat load of citizens came up ; with 
them Captain Mills' brother from Indiana, Governor Kirk- 
wood, and several members of the Legislature ; all were glad 
to see the 2d Iowa, and gave us great praise. They put up 
at the Colonel's head-quarters. In the evening the brass 
band serenaded them, and they favored us with speeches ; 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 73 

were present at our dress parade, and seemed much 
pleased. 

" Sunday^ March 2. — Dr. Weeks came for his son that 
was killed. 

" Monday^ 3. — Very cold and spitting snow. Boys took 
Doty and Weeks up, and put them in coffins to send home. 

" Wednesday, 5. — Cold and raw. Boys fitting up stoves, 
so that we may be more comfortable ; think we will be 
sure to leave here now we have got fixed up. 

" Thursday, 6. — Turned cold during day and snowed. 
Sure enough, orders came for us to march at 9 o'clock ; 
failed to get off before about 2 p. m. Marched about six 
miles to the iron works, and camped. 

''Friday, 7. — At 2 p. m. arrived at Camp McClellan, on 
Tennessee River, five miles above Fort Henry. 

" Saturday 8. — Waiting transportation. Nearly starved ; 
only parched corn to eat. 

" Wednesday, 1 2. — Pleasant. Going up Tennessee River. 

" Saturday, 29. — On drill in camp at Pittsburg Landing. 
Colonel made us a speech, and read to us about the pres- 
entation of our flag to the Iowa State Legislature. 

" Sunday, Api^il 6. Marched two or three miles ; met the 
enemy ; were ordered to lie down behind the fence ; lay 
two or three hours under fire of enemy's cannon, and 
occasionally a shower of musket-balls, which we generally 
answered. About 2 o'clock the right wing of our regiment 
was moved to the right to support Colonel Sweeney. In 
a few moments they fell back, and lefl us under a very 
warm fire ; laid close to the ground ; the cannon-balls both 
of our batteries and of the rebels, whistling through the air 
over our heads, and musket-balls striking the ground near 
us. Lay here about 30 minutes, when we were ordered 
back to our old position ; where we remained a short time, 
when we were ordered to fall back towards camp. During 
all this time the battle was raging terribly, sometimes our 
men driving the enemy, and sometimes the enemy driving 



74 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

US. So all day, secesh gaining ground slowly, until about 
four o'clock, when we discovered that our brigade was nearly 
surrounded. As we retreated we had to go through a gap 
about 30 rods wide, the enemy cross-firing on us. Right 
here I saw General Wallace fall. Secesh drove us so fast 
a great many of our troops became panic-stricken, and 
took a stampede for the river. Our camps were taken ; 
we had to do the best we could during the night. 



CAPTURE OF CORINTH. 

" ^^Friday, May 30. — "Was aroused by a noise which we 
supposed to be cannonading on our left. I was detailed on 
picket, and about the time we were mounting guard, our 
boys who had ventured upon the hill in the field, saw no 
enemy ; they kept going on until they got inside of their 
first line of breastworks ; found them deserted ; some 
went back to tell the news, while others kept going on 
over breastwork after breastwork until they got into 
Corinth ; found three or four niggers and one old sick 
man. These boys were of our regiment, and we were in 
Corinth half an hour before any one else. The city 
deserted and about half burned. 

^^ Saturday, June 28. — Rained very hard ; very refresh- 
ing ; cleared about noon. The right wing of our regiment 
come on picket. I was on 3d relief. No. 8 ; had all the black- 
berries I could eat. An old man came along while I was 
on post, and saw me reading the Bible. He wanted to know 
what I was reading. When I informed him, he asked me 
if my mother taught me to read that Book. I told him 
that she did. 

" Friday, July 4. — About noon the big guns began to 
bark out ; national salutes went round ; 35 rounds to the 
battery. Lieutenant Ensign came back to-day, and we are 
all glad." .... 



COMPANY D. SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 75 

JACOB M. MOLES. 

In a few years it will only be known in communities from 
which noble and patriotic young men went forth to battle, 
that such an one fell fighting, or died of sickness in the 
army — remembering only his name ; and in many instances 
names will be forgotten, and it can only be said, " A great 
many from this neighborhood died of sickness in the ser- 
vice, or were killed in battle." 

The botanist preserves even the minutest flowers. Are 
the flowers that open into golden fruit of liberty, forever 
blessing the nations, unworthy of preservation? Is the 
memory of a soldier, who, like Moles, " displayed in battle 
undying courage and devotion " — " determined to die, if 
necessary, for the cause," — unworthy of being preserved ? 
The shelves of the bookstores are bending under their 
loads of printed and bound volumes of vain imaginings of 
sickly minds and corrupt hearts — novels. Shame on the 
people who read such trash, if one who lost his life for the 
Union shall be forgotten. Where hearts have been rent 
by the " lightnings of war," and miUions of homes made 
desolate, do we turn to tales of fiction to shed tears, for- 
getting the " brave who went out to battle," closing our 
eyes to the scenes of real woe, and our ears to the voice 
of real suffering around us ? 

In every township of the North let there be a historian 
to write of every soldier who fell from that locality ; pre- 
servino; an account of his services and sacrifices, and copies 
of his letters in which he reveals his love for the flag : 
how sweet it must be to die for it, and be wrapped in its 
sacred folds — to be remembered with gratitude by his fel- 
low-countrymen to remotest posterity. If these records 
cannot always be printed, let them be preserved in manu- 
script in the school-district libraries — that no flowers of 
sacred memory be allowed to fade. Thus will our children 
be taught to love their country, and to covet the death of 



76 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

the brave soldier ; to wish that they had lived in the days 
of national trial, to have mingled their blood (if it were 
God's will) with that of those whose names are preserved 
with such righteous care. 

These thoughts are suggested by the beautiful letters 
written by J. M. Moles to his wife, shortly before he was 
stricken down in battle : — 

..." Corinth is now swarming with soldiers and still 
they come, — the heroes of Vicksburg, — and before long the 
people at home will be startled by the news of the downfall 
of some rebel stronghold. There are quite a number of 
Iowa regiments here, and among the soldiers I see many 
familiar faces ; but how changed ! . . . . And many that 
would be here to-day have fallen fighting for our country ; 
their forms are mouldering in the silent grave ; but their 
memories we hold sacred, and their names and deeds will 
be handed down to posterity." .... 

" Corinth, Miss., April 8, 1862. 
" This is a beautiful spring morning, and I am seated in 
my tent, with materials before me for writing to dear ones 
at home ; and as I am thinking what to write, the soft, balmy 
breeze of the sunny South comes stealing in, laden with the 
many songs of joyous birds, and the rich perfume of the 
new-born flowers ; and as my senses realize these beauties 
in nature, I am forced to raise my eyes to the clear blue 
sky, where dwells the Giver of all earthly blessings ; and as 
I am lost in adoration, the rattle of musketry and the roll 
of drums break the charm and bring me back to earth, and 
as I see the streets filled with armed men, and the marks 
of desolating war on everything around me, a chill strikes 
my heart, that even the warm rays of the genial sun cannot 

drive away There is one boon I ask, if I should 

fall. Let my comrades bury me where I fall. I crave no 
richer boon. Let me rest with the fallen brave. All I ask 
is to do my duty ; then let my comrades wrap me in the 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 77 

Starry banner of liberty, and bury me on the battle-field of 
victory. Many of our comrades have fallen ; but I believe 
their names will be handed down from generation to ven- 
eration." .... ^ 

There never lived a truer man than Moles. He left a 
prosperous business and went to the front. It was thought 
a sufficient excuse by many that they « could not leave their 
business." " When the merchants," they said, " and me- 
chanics and professional men all ' shut up shop ' and go, then 
I will enlist." Moles said, " I will do my duty whether others 
do theirs or not." Though a man of fine abilities, compe- 
tent by his intelligence and education to fill the highest 
places, he did not wait for an office, but enlisted at the first 
call as a private. He was 27 years old in the spring of 
1861, when he enlisted. He was sent home in the summer 
of 1862, as a recruiting officer ; and then, while at home 
be was married. After a few weeks he returned to the 
front, and on the 4th day of October, 1862, he was killed 
in the battle of Corinth. He was a native of Ohio. 

I will close this memoir with the following letter : 

" Camp 2d Iowa Infantry Vols., ) 
^ ,^ , KiENzi, Miss., Oct. 17, 1862. ( 

"Mrs. J. M. Moles: 

" Madam, — .... Your husband was in the first day's 
battle, fighting throughout the whole with great spirit and 
bravery. On Saturday, October 4th, the battle was re- 
newed; terrible charges were made on our lines, for a 
short time forcing us back. It was while we were rallying 
to repulse the enemy that your husband fell — a rifle-ball 
striking him in the temple, causing almost instant death. 
To the very last he displayed undying courage and devo- 
tion. Though in delicate health and physically weak, he 
was strong iu love of country, and a determination to die, 
if necessary, for the cause. He was loved and respected 
by his comrades, and in his death he has become more dear. 



78 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" His death occurred about 11a. m. His remains were 
placed in the same grave with those of Charles E. Walker, 
who was killed about the same time. A substantial box 
was made, of sufficient size for both, with a partition be- 
tween, and, carefully wrapped in their blankets, they were 
laid to rest. Boards at the head and foot of each, mark 
the spot. Upon the boards their names are plainly cut. I 
cannot give the location of the grave from the streets, not 
being able to ascertain their names. It is about half a mile 
northeast of Tishamingo House, on the north side, and very 
near a small white house, a short distance south of Gen. 

Boswell's 

"E. T. ENSIGN, 
*' Lieutenant Company D." 

SERGEANT WILLIAM BRADLEY GREENE. 

William Bradley Greene was well known to the 
citizens of Des Moines. He was a native of Michigan. 
He had a good education, and was of irreproachable moral 
character. After his father's death he was the chief stay 
of his mother's family. He was the eldest son. It was 
only the prompting of what he felt to be imperative duty 
that led him to enlist. He went and did his duty man- 
fully. 

Dent's Station, Mo., > 

Camp of Company D, Aug. 26, 1861. ) 

. . . . " I got into the stage-coach at Mills & Co.'s 
bookstore on the Friday of my departure from home, to 
link my destiny with that of Company D, Second Iowa. 
Arriving at Keokuk, was told the regiment had been or- 
dered to Washington ; went aboard the steamer Hannibal 
City and proceeded to the city of Hannibal. Learned 
there that the regiment had been ordered to St. Louis. I 
went into a railroad car and slept sweetly till morning. 
About eight o'clock a. m., the " Bloody Second " — as the 
Missourians are pleased to call them — came in bag and 
baggage, and proceeded aboard steamer D. H. January. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 79 

At noon the next day we landed at the Arsenal at St. 
LBiiis. After remaining here four or five days, proceeded 
to Bird's Point, and pitched tents in a corn-field owned by 
the aforesaid Bird. We lived while here on the fat of the 
land. After leaving Bird's Point, regiment proceeded by 
boat to Sulphur Springs Landing; took cars on the Iron 
Mountain Railroad to Pilot Knob. Arriving at Pilot 
Knob, we shouldered our guns and knapsacks and marched 
about two and a half miles, passing through the town of 
Ironton, and camped on one of the most lovely spots on 
the face of the earth — a large meadow, surrounded with 
orchards of fine fruit and springs of good water. On last 
Saturday morning our company had orders to pack up and 
prepare for a march of ten days. We are now at Dent's 
Station, and live in the best kind of style — having 
plums, peaches, apples, green corn, squirrels, rabbits, 
quails, etc." 

Bradley served in Company D until December 19, 1861, 
when he was discharged at St. Louis for disease of the 
heart. As soon as he had regained his health, he reen- 
listed ; entered Company I, 18th Iowa Infantry, July 14, 
1862 ; was with the company until the 4th day of October, 
when he was mortally wounded. Lieutenant William Pagan 
writes to Mrs. Greene from Nevvtonia, Mo., October 5, 
1862: — 

. . . . " Yesterday morning, while on the march to 
attack the rebels at this place, our regiment, and especially 
our company, was fired upon from behind trees and bushes 
by a party of ' bushwhackers,' and your son Bradley was 
seriously wounded. The ball entered the small of the 
back near the spine. We took him to the rear immediately 
and dressed his wound. I had little hopes of him at first, 
but towards evening he began to recover. Last night we 
had him placed in a house in town, and we left a nurse 



80 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

with him. He is in good hands. I visited him about noon 
to-day, and found him in good spirits." • 

Again : 

October Sth. 

" I have the painful duty to perform of informing you of 
the death of your son Bradley. He died about twelve 
o'clock to-day. Up to last night we had hopes of his re- 
covery. At midnight he became delirious, and continued 
so until he died. Your son died a true soldier. 

" Everything was done for him that could be done to 
make him comfortable. He was cheerful and in good 

spirits I am told by his attendant that while 

delirious he called frequently for his mother and sister. 
We wrapped him in his blanket and laid him in the rude 
box. We buried him about eight o'clock, p. m. The 
night was very dark and rainy. His grave is on the hill, 
I think, which Blunt occupied when he shelled Newtonia." 

COLONEL NOAH WEBSTER MILLS. 

It is not my purpose to write the biography of Colonel 
Mills, as the materials are so ample that they would fill a 
large volume. I shall only present what might otherwise 
be hidden — gems from his private writings — saving as it 
were an album of heart pictures and grateful recollections 
of one of the noblest of men. He was a pure patriot, a 
true Christian, a good man. He was brave, amiable, and 
learned. He loved the peaceful walks of literature, and 
had he been left to follow up the path that he so much 
loved, he would have plucked bright laurels in the field of 
letters. He wrote many beautiful poems that found their 
way into print, and others that were left by him in manu- 
script ; one, entitled " A History in Rhyme," a poem of 
nine hundred lines — a beautiful picture of Des Moines in 
all of her past history, with a sprinkling now and then of 
satire. From this poem I shall make a few brief extracts. 
It begins : — 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 81 

" Where Des Moines River, with unceasing roll, 
Passing through fertile fields, by hidden beds of coal, 
Receives Raccoon's bright waves upon her breast 
(Than these no lovelier streams in all the West), 
There lies a spot with no high sounding name, 
Known to history and not unknown to fame." 

After recounting many interesting incidents of early 

pioneer life, and of the Indians, and of the soldiers at the 

old " Fort," he proceeds thus : — 

" At this time in the distant States were heard 
Of Fort Des Moines full many a boasting word, 
And many a man the Iowa fever stirred ; 
They talked of it and of the weary journey 
As we do now of that to distant Kearnev. 



Trains of wagons crept the long road over, 
' For Iowa'' painted on each dusty cover. 

And for those years had steadily gone on, 
Improving rapidh'-, the infant town ; 
Extending outward with resistless force. 
It crossed both rivers in its growing course. 
Until, on all the hills that guard it round. 
The dwellings of its citizens were found. 

The rattling change was heard in each man's pocket. 
And cheerful thrift was seen each door you'd knock at. 



Ere this time, it behooves us to relate 
That the ' assembled wisdom of the State,' 
Attending to .the wants of great and small. 
Resolved to relocate the Capitol. 

Commissioners to do the work were sent, 

By whom some weeks in looking round were spent. 

Canvassing rival sites as time afforded, 

Until to Fort Des Moines it was awarded. 

No scarcity have we of brilliant learning, 
And some so feel the fire of genius burning 
The corporation gets too small to hold them ; 
And when the inspiration so controlled them 
Would make you think, if heard but for a minute, 
That they monopolized the talent in it. 



82 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

With churches is the city well supplied, 
And better 'twould be if these churches were 
Only the homes of piety and prayer. 

And some, we know, would good disciples prove 
Of Him who rules with charity and love, 
If they were not to this opinion given : 
That their church is the only road to heaven. 

A glorious thing, the power we all possess 

To talk about our neighbor's acts and dress; 

Of how he treats his wife, or she her lord; 

How this one puts on airs and flaunts abroad ; 

Or, how some ladies shopping, in the street 

Lift up the dress to show the little feet; 

Or, how another spends her husband's earnings 

In fanciful, extravagant adornings ; 

Of what a lesson this one's actions teach us; 

Of that man's wife, who always wears the breeches. 



. . . . Little fellowship 
Exists among us. We separate into bands, 
And divide society into clans. 
And surround ourselves with a codfish fence, 
Onlv to be scaled by dollars and cents." ' 



The poem closes with a view of the burial ground : — 



" And some who aided society into being. 
Shielding its tender years, its wants foreseeing 
With affectionate and with watchful care. 
Are with our other dead low lying there ; 
The soil they loved covers their withered forms 
Away from life's wild and tumultuous storms. 

But the dead so peacefully and calmly rest 

Where no cankering care disturbs the breast; 

Where Spring awakes all nature into life; 

Where warm Summer, with vegetation rife, 

Gives vigor to the new awakened earth. 

And gently smiles at ever}- flower's birth; 

Where Autumn blights what sweet Spring brought to light, 

And Summer nourished with her dews at night; 

And Winter, with his snowy, icy pall 

AAvay from our vision entombs them all. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 83 

If nature's power can renew again 
All of vegetation's numerous train, — 
The trees, the plants, and e'en the tender flowers, — 
So Heaven can those dear, dead friends of ours ; 
And we, who have each Summer's season seen 
Earth covered with her beauteous robe of green. 
Can hope to see those loved ones once again, 
Blooming eternal in an eternal plain." 

We pass now to the death-bed of Colonel Mills, and the 
last letter he wrote his wife : — 

" Hospital, Corinth, Miss., October 9, 1862. 

" My darling Wife, — Feeling as though I could do 
so this morning, I write you a few Hnes. 

" The first day we were engaged in battle some time 
after your father [Gen. Hackleman] was mortally wounded. 
He was on a different part of the field, and I didn't know 
that he was wounded, till I heard he had been carried to 
the Tishamingo House. Col. Baker was mortally wounded, 
I suppose, about the same time, and I was left in command. 

" My wound I got the second day, while charging on the 
enemy. It is severe ; will take three months, surgeons 
say, to render my foot fit for use again. The first day my 
horse was shot. A ball passed through the shoulder of my 
coat sleeve, and a spent ball struck the foot that is now 
disabled 

" Major Weaver was in command after I was hurt. I 
stayed till I was in great pain, and the brigade commander 
sent me from the field. 116 out of 320 of the Second 
are killed and wounded and missing. 

" I have good attention and am doing well." 

He was taken with lock-jaw, caused by the severity of 
his wound, and no relief could be obtained, though the best 
physicians were called, and his foot' amputated. He could 
not speak ; but he wrote in his last moments : — 



84 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" I have been well attended ; no one could foresee this. 

" If it is to be fatal, it is my time. God is wise and just. 

" If the danger is great, I am not afraid to die. 

*' I have always intended to have my children well edu- 
cated, and brought ujd to business habits. I want them to 
be able to write and spell their own language correctly. 
Good penmanship is a great aid to any one. I have found 
in the army that the services of almost every soldier that 
could write well were in demand. 

" In the army I have tried conscientiously and prayerfully 
to do my duty ; and if I am to die in my youth, I prefer to 
die as a soldier of my country. To do so as a member of 
the 2d Iowa Infantry is* glorious enough for me. 

" I wish my boy to be temperate, and avoid profanity of 
all grade?;, and the use of tobacco." 

The following beautiful letter was written to F. M. Mills, 
by Lieutenant Ensign : — 

" Camp 2d Iowa Infantry, Corinth, Miss., ) 

January 5, 1863. j 

" The 2d Iowa has hardly seemed like itself since the 
battle of Corinth. The great change to me is the absence 
of our loved friend and brother. Much of my time was 
spent in his company, and I had learned to depend upon 
him in ' sunshine and in storm,' and to ask with all con- 
fidence his advice and counsel. His life is but another 
offering in the name of Freedom, and how uncomplain- 
ingly it was given ! Surely the smiles of Heaven will rest 
upon us, and success must attend the cause so sanctified. 
Though as modest as he was brave, and hardly conscious 
of his own worth, he had often expressed to me, in con- 
fidence, a belief that he would live, and that he was destined 
for further advancement. In battle his whole concern was 
for others, and he seemed perfectly unconscious of personal 
risk or danger. His conduct was an inspiration to all. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 85 

" The evening of the first day will to me be ever memo- 
rable. Overpowering numbers had forced us back, bringing 
death to many of our comrades, and mortal wounds to our 
leaders, — Hackleman and Baker ; and now by Battery 
Robinnette, we were sternly awaiting the approach of the 
foe, and looking each moment for him to appear in our 
front. The moon rose peacefully, casting a bright light 
over all ; but showing the glistening lines of bayonets of 
the enemy. All were weary, and gladly welcomed the 
order to lie down Colonel Mills was in com- 
mand of the regiment ; but in this interval of quietness he 
had visited the dying General. I now sought him, curious to 
know how he would bear this affliction, and his many cares 
and responsibilities, and with an honest desire to proffer 
my little of comfort and cheer. Though sad, he was not 
despondent, and the clear light of his blue eye reflected 
undying faith and resignation, and evinced a Christian 
courage which nothing could appall. 

" Our conversation was of the events of the day. He 
spoke of the great love and respect he had borne the 
General, and of the terrible blow his loss would be to the 
family ; but thanking God for his mercies, he was yet 
spared, and would prove a son and father to them all. He 
mentioned a premonition, had before the battle, that he 
would be wounded in the left arm, and now showed me a 
bullet-hole in the left sleeve. He said, • I almost think 
that danger for me is past, and that further risk for me will 
be slight.' 

'• I laid my rubber blanket on the ground for a seat, and 
we talked a long, long time. Our reflections were of 
friends and home, and we felt gratified that they were so 
far removed from this scene of turmoil and strife. 

" You already know the particulars of the next day. 
When the regiment rallied to resist the last furious charge 
of the rebels, and he was not there, I knew that he was 



86 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

injured ; but dared ask no questions, until all was over. 
We were then rejoiced to hear that his wound was not 
considered dangerous." 

On the occasion of the funeral, Hon. John A. Kasson 
pronounced the oration, from which the follow^ing is taken. 
It is a beautiful picture of the life and character of Colonel 
Mills. 

" No more upright or purer soul joined that army. He 
was only twenty-six years of age. He had read for the 
profession of law in Indiana, and thence came to this city, 
where his desire for that profession was abandoned in the 
more quiet pursuits of business. Few persons knew how 
quietly and steadily he followed literary studies. Fond of 
readino" and composing, in his leisure hours he cultivated 
tastes that improved and honored him. His character was 
so unpretending, his life so void of worldly ambition, that 
the public had remained ignorant of his essential worth 
and vioorous patriotism. After a brief space given to re- 
flection, he responded to the bugle-note sounded by the 
commander-in-chief wdth the offer of his labor and his life 
for the salvation of his government. He was made Second 
Lieutenant of the first company which this county sent 
forth to the war. He was enrolled, with the 2d Regiment 
of Iowa Infantry, the first in Iowa which enlisted for the 
war. From that time to his last hour he bore a gallant 
and distino-uished part in all the victories of that glorious 
battalion. Rising rapidly grade by grade, gaining each 
bar and both oak leaves by merit, on the day of his last 
battle, he found himself in command of one of the most 
distinouished regiments in the United States service, and 
entitled to place the silver eagle on his shoulders. Cool, 
collected, fearless in the rage of battle, unseduced by 
pleasure, unshaken by danger, unterrified in the death- 
storm he was a model officer, a Bayard among the volun- 
teers. As I recall his manly form, his serene countenance. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 87 

his Christian eye, I can understand why no rebel bullet 
could do more than rend his garments, and why it should 
be left to a chance ball to tear his foot, and ultimately de- 
stroy his life. As a traitor looked into his kindly face, he 
reproached himself as a murderer, at the thought of rob- 
bing mankind of such a model of upright manhood. In 
the brilliant and daring assault by his regiment at Donel- 
son, which won us the first great victory of the war, he 
escaped almost unscathed. In the terrible scenes at Shiloh, 
his escape was equally miraculous. In the battle of Cor- 
inth he seemed equally the favorite of some beneficent 
angel, until the contest was nearly over, and the eagle of 
victory was about descending upon our banners, when an 
ill-aimed bullet came crushing lengthwise through his foot. 
His regiment, having lost its brave Colonel early on the 
preceding day, was now under his command. General 
Rosecrans, knowing the importance of their position, had 
come near to them, doubting even the bravest of the brave 
amidst the overwhelming terror of that conflict, and stood 
himself exposed to the deadly storm of missiles, in order to 
stimulate the 2d Regiment by his presence. Lieutenant- 
Colonel Mills rode to him and besfsed him to retire from this 
danger, that he might be saved for the army, and told him 
he would stand responsible for the behavior of his veteran 
regiment. When his lines wavered under the reckless 
pressure of the enemy, he seized the colors from the 
guard, and held them aloft from his horse, and rallied his 
thinned and exhausted ranks to renewed deeds of valor. 
It was then he received his mortal wound. Painful as it 
was, through all that wonderful net-work which the bullet 
had crushed in its course, he kept the saddle. His Brig- 
adier, General Sweeney, rode up to him, and urged him to 
retire, with the words so grateful to a soldier : ' Colonel^ 
your conduct has been admirable, sir — admirable ! ' And 
as the enemy fled before our pursuing battalions, our 
wounded Colonel yielded to his wound, and retired. Vic- 



88 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

tory had crowned the Union banners. His undaunted reg- 
iment had won new thanks from a brave chief, and new 
laurels from a grateful country. They had inscribed a 
fresh page of glory in the history of this State. They and 
their comrades in that fight had furnished a glowing chap- 
ter to the future historian of this national war. And in the 
midst of these glorious results, it pleased God to take to 
himself our chivalrous soldier. Near the close of his career 
he said : ' I have tried to do my duty ; I am not afraid to 
die.' With this language from his General, and from him- 
self, — fit memorial words for his monument, — let us give 
him honorable burial, and consecrate his memory in our 
grateful hearts." 

The letters that Colonel Mills wrote his family are a mirror 
of his heart. Space must be allowed for a few extracts, 
following the order of time in which the letters were writ- 
ten. His first was written May 26, 1861, at Keokuk, and 
shows the religious zeal with which the true soldier goes 
forward to duty, — resolved not to forget that he is still a 
man and a Christian, He meekly writes to his wife : — 

" I went to church to-day ; and last night, before I w^nt 
to bed, I read two chapters in my Bible." 

" Camp Lyon, July 13, 1861. 
" It is a great deprivation for me to be away from you and 
the children — one that I feel deeply and I know that you 
also feel it very much ; at the same time so long as we are 
separated let us accept our condition with the best grace 
possible. I don't anticipate any calamity to myself, and 
expect to come home renewed in body and spirit, and to 
spend the remainder of my life with you and the children 

in perfect peace You must not be in too great a 

hurry for me to come. I haven't done anything yet, and 
you would not have me come home without having accom- 
plished something." 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 89 

" Bird's Poikt, Oct. 19, 1861. 
" It has been a source of some gratification to me that I 
was one of the earliest to volunteer, although I did so after 
much thouo'ht. It was best that I did it when I did. I 
could never have resisted the flood afterwards ; and in the 
place where I might have found myself, it would, perhaps, 
not have been so well with me My mind is en- 
gaged in the business as well as my heart. I am anxious 
to see the country restored to union, and to see great and 
lastinjx damage done to the institution of slavery ; and 
when I pray for the blessings nearest my heart, I fail not to 
add in my petitions one for the final extinction of the awful 
curse whose death-blow may be one of the effects of this 
unhappy war." 

"Fort Donelson, Feb. 21, 1862. 

. . . . "On Saturday morning there had been heavy 
fighting two or three miles from us on our right, which 
ceased about noon, in which our forces got the worst of it. 
In the afternoon General Smith sent word down to charge 
on the breastworks of the enemy with the 2d Iowa. The left 
wing was formed in line, with the right behind, about 100 
yards. Both started to march up the hill, at the top of 
which were the enemy's works. My wing, the right, kept 
gaining on the left all the way up. When we were half-way 
up the bullets whistled by us terriffically. Dozens of men 
fell killed and wounded in front of us out of the left wing. 
Captain Cloutman was killed here. He had very often pre- 
dicted that he should be killed in the first battle ; he was 
shot through the heart. Captain Slaymaker was killed, and 
Major Chipman was wounded, all near the same spot. 

" My first feeling was that I was in a dangerous place. 
My next that it couldn't be helped, and I must do the best 
I could through it. We overtook the left wing as they 
went over the works and had commenced shooting, and 
bayoneting the enemy. Our boys joined in the work. 



90 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Theodore Weeks was here shot through the head and 
killed. Hayden was shot through the head and wounded ; 
he still lives and will probably get well. 

"After the enemy had been driven into the main entrench- 
ments, our regiment formed into line again and marched 
over towards the other works, through a perfect shower of 
bullets. "VYe were now fighting among some of the enemy's 
tents, that we had forced them to leave. Besides the mus- 
ketry, the enemy fired on us from their cannon with shell, 
and canister, and ©rape-shot ; but the great majority that 
were killed or hurt were struck by musket-balls. I was 
much exposed here, but was not touched. Doty was killed 
fighting bravely close by me. Patrick was wounded badly 
in the neck, within a step or two of me. Ragan was shot in 
the thigh near me. I saw Colonel Baker and Lieutenant 
Weaver's caps shot off. I felt that God was protecting 
me • 

" After the musketry had ceased, and I was standing 
unconcernedly behind the breastwork from the enemy, my 
back turned in his direction, I heard the whistle of a grape- 
shot. Some one fell aoj'ainst me and to the ground. 
I turned around, and there lay a man dead at my feet, 
struck in the back of the head. 

" In the morning they exhibited a white flag 

Our regiment had the post of honor in entering the fort. 
The oreneral's staff" and colors saluted us. Regiment after 
regiment gave us three cheers while we were jDassing to 
the front. The proudest moment of my life I experienced 
there, and forgot all hunger and fatigue in the joy and 
exultation of the time." .... 

" Tennessee River, March, 1862. 

"We arrived here about noon, it being warm and 

pleasant. Regiment after regiment poured in after us. 

We are encamped in a field near the river, which is spread 

away out of its banks. Other regiments are camped on 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 91 

the hill-side south of us ; and hundreds of camp-fires 
shining out, with the light from 15 steamboats tied up 
opposite us, and the new moon shining down, make really 
the most picturesque sight I have seen since I have been 
a soldier." 

" Pittsburg Landing, April 10, 1862. 

" Thanks to Providence I have come safely through the 
second oreat fio-ht ! 

" On the last day I picked some forget-me-nots in the 
woods, which I carried for a while and then jDlaced them in 
my pocket-book, thinking as I placed them there, — ' This 
is a token that God has not forgotten our country ; this 
that He hasn't forg-otten me ; and this that I should not 
forofet Him.' " 



■&' 



" Camp at Seven Mile Run (near Mississippi line), ) 

May 9, 1862. ) 

" Dearest, — To know that your prayers, and those of 
others ascend for me, gives me strong hopes of escaping all 
dangers that may approach me in this war. I am trying 
to do right all the time, and have been ; and this is another 
ground of hope. 

" Your allusion to our darling in heaven brought sad 
thoughts, it is true, but holy ones. I think of her often, 
and the thoughts are such as purify. We should thank 
God for being allowed to possess her even for a short 
time." 

" Camp near Corinth, Sept. 1, 1862. 

" There will soon be more troops here, I suppose, for a 
forward movement. I am ready for anything that may 

come Come what may, I will try hard to do my 

duty, and hope and pray that God will help me, and that I 
may possess the qualities requisite for the occasion. 

" I have not by any means left off my prayers. On the 
contrary, my petitions ascend as often as I lie down at 



92 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

night to sleep, and through them and the faith I have in a 
Supreme Being, I am able to anticipate dangers with but 
little apprehension." 

" CA3IP Montgomery, Sept. 11, 1862. 
"If I have a good knowledge of myself, my greatest 
desire, so long as I must be a soldier, is, to be a good and 
efficient one. I feel as conscientious about it as I do about 
anything else, and I will do all that I can to accomplish 
my duty, and the greatest possible good of the regiment.'* 

" Camp Montgomery, Sept. 15, 1862. 
" I certainly did come into this war with the best of 
motives, hardly thinking or caring for promotion, or any- 
thing else, but that I ought to go. I have never lost hope, 
nor swerved from what I knew to be my duty, neither will 
I, God helping me ! " 

Born in Montgomery County, Indiana, on the 21st day 
of June, 1834, brought up in the fear of God, taught to love 
his country and to honor the aged — he was truly a good 
man. He received his education in Wabash College, defray- 
ing his own expenses by persevering labor in a printing 
house. When he died, he left a comjDctence to his family. 
He says, in one of his letters to Mrs. M., dated Camp 
Montgomery, Ala., Aug. 9, 1862 : — 

" Life and this world seem valuable to me only because 
of you and my children. I was saying to Ensign that I 
didn't want to die, till you and I and our babies could live 
in our own nice little home in Des Moines, and feel that 
perfect happiness we should feel when first experiencing 

the fact I think next summer will find us safe 

and happy in Des Moines, the best place in America, better 
prepared than ever to be happy and good." 

He is buried in the cemetery at Des Moines, and a 
beautiful monument has been erected to his memory by his 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA ENFANTRY VOLS. 93 

affectionate wife. He died on Sunday evening, at sun- 
down, on the 12th day of October, 1862, in hospital at 
Corinth, Miss. 

Upon the monument is inscribed : — 

" COLONEL N. W. MILLS: 

DIED OCTOBER 12,1862, 

FROM WOUNDS RECEIVED IN BATTLE OF CORINTH, 

OCTOBER 4th, 

AGED 28 YEARS, 3 MONTHS, 21 DAYS. 

' I have tried to do my duty : 
I'm not afraid to die:' " 



AUSTIN B. RUSH. 

Born in Vermilion County, Indiana, June 16, 1841, he 
came to Des Moines with his parents in 1849. His father 
died in 1851. A short time before his father's death, Aus- 
tin came near losing his own life, being severely gored 
by an elk. From the effects of the wounds he then re- 
ceived he never fully recovered. He was not able to en- 
dure hard marching while in the army, and he was there- 
fore appointed Hospital Steward and put on board a hos- 
pital boat on the Mississippi. He had taken part, with his 
regiment, in the battles of Donelson and Shiloh. At 
Shiloh he received a severe wound in the arm. 

Rush was a printer by trade. He began to learn this 
business in the office of Wm. Porter, in the year 1857. 
His home was with Barlow Granger, Esq., who took pains 
to give Austin the best opportunities for education. He 
attended the select school kept by Judge J. H. Gray. 
Austin was an amiable boy, and well-informed. He was 
fond of reading. 

While sick in the hospital he was under the care of Dr. 
Alexander Shaw, the excellent Surgeon of the 29th Infan- 
try. Dr. Shaw nursed him with the care of a father and 



94 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

true friend — for which Austin's friends desire that I should 
express for them, in this public manner, their acknowledg- 
ments to Dr. Shaw, and assure him of their gratitude. 
Austin's death occurred in September, 1862, and he was 
buried in the general burying-ground at Vicksburg. At 
the time of his death he was Hospital Steward in Contra- 
band Hospital, at the Prentiss House, Vicksburg. He had 
been on duty on hospital boat " Nashville." He was in the 
regular army. 

I will add that Austin B. Rush was formerly a school- 
mate of mine, and I therefore knew him intimately. He 
w^as always jovial and happy, kind hearted, intelligent, and 
quick to learn. 

WILLIAM B. MASON 

Was twenty-three years old when he enlisted. He came 
West to find a home, but soon after his arrival in Des 
Moines he enrolled his name among those of Comi3any D, 
May 4, 1861. He was a native of Middlebury, Summit 
County, Ohio. His father, Elijah Mason, was Justice of 
the Peace in that town for many years. William was in 
all of the battles with his company up to the time of his 
death, which occurred on the 6th day of August, 1864, at 
Atlanta, Ga., being the last man of his veteran company 
that fell in battle. The regiment was pushing up with its 
skirmish line. Mason and a comrade had just finished 
digging a rifle-pit, when Mason remarked, " Well, I guess 
that will do." The words had barely passed his lips, when 
he Avas killed by a rnusket-ball. 

He was a brave man. Often on detail, he could have 
been frequently exempt from duty in time of action ; but 
he was always found in line wuth the rest, when there 
Avas fighting. " Mason," says his comrade, " was as good 
a soldier as ever lived ; you cannot pay him too high a 
tribute." 



. COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTPwY VOLS. 95 

GEORGE E. BACHELDER. 

The following interesting account of Bachelder was 
given me by Colonel Godfrey : — 

" George F. Bachelder, a native of Maine, twenty-six 
years of age, was one of the first from Polk County to en- 
roll his name as private in Company D, of the gallant old 
2d Infantry. Having but few acquaintances in the com- 
pany when he left Des Moines, he at first attracted but 
little attention ; but during the campaign in Missouri in 
1861, by his promptness as a soldier, and his genial dispo- 
sition — ever kind to his comrades, and always ready to 
lend a helping hand — he won the respect of his officers 
and the good will of all his comrades. After the battles of 
Donelson and Pittsburg Landing, in which he participated 
and displayed the courage of a true soldier, he was detailed 
as mounted orderly at regimental head-quarters. At the 
battle of Corinth, in October, 1863, he had two horses shot 
under him, and was near the lamented Baker and Mills 
when they fell, and helped carry them from the field. No 
soldier ever displayed more bravery than did he upon that 
day. He served with the 2d Iowa until June, 1864, when, 
at the earnest solicitations of myself [Colonel of the First 
Alabama Cavalry, and formerly Adjutant of the 2d Infan- 
try, Iowa Volunteers], he was detailed for special duty, and 
ordered to report to me. He was then assigned to duty as 
orderly at regimental head-quarters. He served faith- 
fully with that regiment during the Atlanta campaign, was 
in all its marches, and counter-marches, and night-scouting, 
and reconnoitring the enemy's lines, for which that reg- 
iment was so favorably noted. 

" Whilst the regiment was stationed for a short time at 
Rome, Ga., on Sunday morning, the 17th day of July, 1864, 
he left camp in company with one of his comrades to go a 
short distance into the country ; when about one mile from 
camp, and near our lines, whilst passing through a dense 



96 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

thicket in a narrow country road, he was fired upon by 
hushwhaclcers, and received a wound through his body, 
which caused his death in about twenty minutes. His 
comrade escaped, and carried the news to camp in time for 
the Colonel and a few friends to reach the unfortunate sol- 
dier, and raise liim in their arms, as he breathed his 
last. 

" He is buried on the hill-side south of Rome, where many 
other brave soldiers sleep. A plain white board, with his 
name and regiment, marks the spot where he lies. There 
was no braver or more trustworthy soldier in the Western 
Army — and where shall we look for braver soldiers than 
in the Army of the West ? 

'' We might add further that his death was not without 
its lesson to the rebels ; for before the sun went down that 
Sabbath evening, every citizen in that neighborhood, and 
for miles around, was compelled to leave, and the habita- 
tions, which had sheltered and secreted hushivhachers, and 
guerillas, and spies, that night lighted the pathway of the 
1st Alabama Cavalry as they wended their way back to 
camp from their missionary duty." 

JAMES EDWIN ROBBINS. 

" RoBBiNS was," says Captain Marsh, "one of the best 
fighting men that ever lived. He was always where he 
belonged." He fought in the battles of Donelson, and 
Shiloh, and Corinth, served a three years' term as a private 
in Company D, received an honorable discharge, and then 
became a scout for Gen. Thomas.- In 1864 he was fired 
upon by guerillas in ambush, near Gravelly Springs, on the 
Tennessee River, and killed. His companions fled, and 
did not return to bury him — and it is not known that he 
ever received Christian burial. 

He was born in Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio; had 
been a resident of Polk County three years when he en- 
listed, at the age of sixteen. He came West with his 



. COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 97 

mother, a Avidow, who died in Louisa County, Iowa, in the 
year 1866. In a letter to Mr. John Youngerman, Bobbins 
says : — 

" RiENZi, Sept. 2, 1862. 
" I am glad to hear that all the boys are enlisting ; for 
if they do not come soon they will not have any fun at 
all." 

CAPTAIN SAMUEL H. LUNT. 

The following beautitul sketch of the life of Captain 
Lunt, who died of disease at Mobile, Ala., July 28, 1865, 
was written by Mrs. Lunt at my request : — 

" Captain S. H. Lunt enlisted in the 2d Iowa Regt. of 
Infantry (Captain Crocker commanding), the day after the 
fall of Sumter (April 14, 1861), as a private soldier. He 
followed the regiment through the State, down to Keokuk ; 
from there to St. Joseph, Mo. ; from there back across the 
State, and thence to Cairo and Bird's Point, where they 
rested through the long summer months, under order of 
General Grant, prepared any moment to receive the enemy. 
Captain Lunt wrote : — 

" ' Camp Lyon, August 6, 1861. 
" ' Our men are commencing to throw up breastworks and 
digging ditches, for there may be an attack here soon, as 
it is rumored that fighting is going on above us. We only 
hope there may be. We are anxious and longing for the 
enemy to show themselves ; and if they do come they will 
be welcomed terribly. Our place is so strong in its natural 
position and artificial fortifications, that whoever can take 
us must come with a very large force, and a very large 
amount of effective batteries, and even then they must kill 
nearly all of us ; for we will not give way an inch, nor sur- 
render. I am on the sick list to-day, but could be well in 
five minutes if the enemy should come ! ' 
7 



98 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" But they only waited in vain. They were finally trans- 
ferred to General Fremont's command. He ordered the 
regiment to St. Louis, where they took up their quarters 
at Benton Barracks, for the further protection of that city ; 
during which time Private S. H. Lunt was promoted to 
the rank of first lieutenant in charge of a company. 
During the service he writes : ' No one has any idea of the 
hard work we soldiers have to perform. No one could 
come to it at once.' Captain Lunt was obliged to resign 
his commission on account of siokness, but immediately 
on his recovering his health he was in the army again. 
He was promoted to Capt. A. Q. M. in the field, and here 
for four years shared the fate of the common soldier. This 
he enjoyed ; for Captain Lunt was a true soldier, and could 
only be satisfied when in the field and at the scene of 
action. He was at once ordered across the mountains of 
Kentucky and Tennessee to Knoxville, Tenn., with an im- 
mense supply train. After a long and tedious journey, 
and suffering many privations, both from sickness and 
hunger, they reached Knoxville. His corps, the 23d, under 
Gen. Hartsuff, was the first to enter the town, amid flying 
shells and whistling bullets. Here he was stationed, and 
soon became the centre of a large circle of business, — act- 
ing part of the time as disbursing officer, or paymaster, for 
that portion of the army. But he was destined not to rest 
here long. After the town was captured and quietly in 
our possession, he was ordered to the far South, where he 
participated in a series of marches, at the close of which 
he lost his life, July 28, 1865. 

" While enduring the march across the enemy's country, 
he writes : ' The Northern people do not realize nor even 
imagine the destruction war makes. I have seen, many 
times, mothers begging bread for their children, with the 
marks of starvation in their faces ; others driven from their 
homes, having been robbed by guerillas, come to us to ask 
assistance ; and there have been several instances where 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 99 

Union men, old and infirm, have been shot dead before 
their own homes. But these guerilla bands have been 
growing " beautifully less," and the harvest will assist the 
poor for a while.' After a perilous trip down the Missis- 
sippi to New Orleans, where they did not remain long 
enough to get rested, his corps joined in the wearisome 
march through the wilds of Alabama to Montgomery and 
back again to Mobile, which place they reached just as the 
bombardment of Spanish Fort commenced, in which his 
corps participated, and during which Captain Lunt received 
a slight wound. After the occupation of Mobile by our 
forces, Captain Lunt once more established head-quarters, 
and found plenty of work to do. 

" The following was written by him in his private journal 
on the march towards Mobile ; — 

^'^ Friday, April 14:. — Left Burn's Mills at 8 o'clock, 
A. M., and marched eighteen miles. Saturday, April 15. 
— We left our camp ground and marched thirteen miles, 
when we encamped. Sunday, April 16. — Left camp at 
quarter past 6, a. m., and marched seventeen miles, 
through a most desolate country, surrounded by all kinds of 
dangers. Monday, April 17. — Reached toll-bridges ; left 
again at 12 o'clock, and after crossing unfordable streams 
and swamps, encamped in the wilderness. Tuesday, April 
18. — Left camp at 6 o'clock, a. m., and marched seven- 
teen miles, and encamped in the wilderness again.' 

" And again, when within hearing of the guns and how- 
itzers from Spanish Fort, he writes : ' To-morrow settles 
some questions of importance to the nation. God grant 
that it may definitely do so ! ' And surely it did, for who 
does not remember hailing the surrender of Spanish Fort 
as a final signal of the close of the war ? But, after all his 
marches and hard work. Captain Lunt was destined never 
to see his family and friends more. Just as the war was 



100 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

over, and he ready to return home, he was stricken by 
disease, contracted in those marches, and so he gave up his 
life, as many another soldier has done, for his country. 
One of the many talented and gifted young men who died 
to maintain our glorious Union." 

GENERAL M. M. CROCKER. 

General Marcellus M. Crocker, on the field of 
battle and in the business relations of life, was very unlike 
Crocker the husband and father; and those who knew 
him only as he appeared in the active world, knew noth- 
ing of his real character ; for to them he seemed cold and 
stern ; but, in truth, he was one of the most affectionate 
and kind-hearted of men. 

During the last years of his life, no one knew, says his 
devoted wife, what his sufferincrs and strucrales were ; for 
he kept them hid from the world, seeming always cheer- 
ful. He has said to her frequently, that often he would 
have chosen death as a sweet relief from his pain, but for 
leaving his family. The last years of his life were passed 
in anxiety for their comfort should he be called away ; and 
on his dying bed, instead of recalling in his fevered dreams 
the exciting scenes in which he had participated, he was 
talking continually of them. He struggled to live, not for 
himself, but for his family, and in the midst of battle he 
thought of his wife and children. He writes : — 

" Pittsburg Landing, April 8, 1862. 
. . . . "The great battle is over, and I am untouched, 
and in good health and spirits. I am very busy, and every- 
thing is in great confusion. I have only time to assure 
you of my safety. God bless you ! You don't Jcnoiu hoiv 
often I thought of you and the children during the hattle^ 

He always spoke hopefully of his health, though there 
were few nights during the last four years of his life afford- 
ing him rest. He slept usually in a sitting posture, troubled 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 101 

with an affection of his throat and lungs. He was of opin- 
ion that sleeping in an open tent and exercising in the free 
air was the best treatment for his malady, and that being 
on foot when he could barely hold up his head, and braving 
his sickness, would overcome it. He supposed, on his re- 
turn from New Mexico (though much enfeebled by the 
fatigue of the long journey), that he had passed the crisis 
of his illness, and would soon be restored to perfect health. 

He was present at the Convention of 1865, and could 
have had the nomination for Governor by the Republican 
party, but he preferred to remain in the army. When 
many were then questioning the policy of openly favoring 
impartial suffrage, he thought we could not be too bold for 
the right. In 1862, when the question of arming the 
blacks and freeing them was before the people, many were 
crying, " The Union as it was, the Constitution as it is." 
Crocker proclaimed, " The Union as it was, the Constitu- 
tion as it ought to ^e." Once giving advice to a young 
lawyer, recounting his own conflicts in life ; how he had 
worked his way up, plodding at manual labor, and teach- 
ing school in an old log-cabin, he said, " What a lawyer 
needs for success in his profession is a club^ Crocker 
battled as hard from a boy till the war, as during the war. 

He was a Western man ; born in Johnson County, In- 
diana, on the 6th day of February, 1830. At the age of 
ten, he came with his father's family to Illinois, and at fif- 
teen to Jefferson County, Iowa. At sixteen, through the 
influence of General A. C. Dodge, he was sent to West 
Point Academy. When he had been there two years, his 
father died. On a leave of absence, he visited his mother. 
He found her so dependent that he resigned his place at 
the Academy. He supported, with his own labor, his 
mother and her family, and educated his three sisters and 
two brothers. His whole life was a sacrifice for others. 
Severe labor and hard study destroyed his health. When 
the war began, he said, '' Come what may, I will stand by 



102 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

the old flag till the end." He fulfilled his promise. In 
the summer of 1865, he died, aged 35. Iowa had been 
twenty years his home. His achievements are a part of 
the history of his country, and a proud legacy to his chil- 
dren. Mrs. Crocker showed me a beautiful sword, which, as 
a present to him, accompanied a saddle and bridle, orna- 
mented with gold and silver, the hilt and scabbard of the 
sword plated with pure gold, and on the scabbard was en- 
graved : — 

"PRESENTED TO 

GENERAL M. M. CROCKER, 

BY THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF 

THE 13TH IOWA INFANTRY VOLUNTEERS. 

SHILOH, MAY, 1863. CORINTH." 

In 1849, Crocker began the study of law in the office of 
Judge Olney, of Fairfield. He commenced the practice 
of his profession in 1851, in Lancaster, Keokuk County, 
where he remained till the spring of 1855, when he re- 
moved to Des Moines. Here he resided till his death. 
He went into the service as Captain of Company D, 2d 
Infantry, recruited by him immediately after the firing on 
Sumter. One reason of his entering the service was, he 
said, to make some return to his country for what she had 
done for him in his education. He was rapidly promoted. 
He distinguished himself for bravery in the battle of 
Pittsburg Landing, receiving the following complimentary 
notice from his brigade commander : — 

"To Colonel M. M. Crocker, of the 13tb Iowa, I wish 
to call special attention. The coolness and bravery dis< 
played by him on the field of battle during the entire ac- 
tion of the 6th ; the skill with which he managed his men, 
and the example of daring and disregard of danger by 
which he inspired them to do their duty, and stand by 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 103 

their colors, show him to be possessed of the highest quali- 
ties of a commander, and entitle him to speedy promo- 
tion." 

The report of General McClernand, who commanded 
the division, was even more extravagant of praise of 
Crocker. His name went to the Senate, as brigadier- 
general, and though not at once, it was in good time con- 
firmed. He mentions, in one of his letters to his wife, the 
tardiness of the Senate in recoornizincr his services. On 
account of his poor health, Mrs. Crocker had in her let- 
ters frequently urged him to resign, and to return home, 
so that he might be attentively cared for in his sickness. 
She now renewed her entreaties, thinking that perhaps he 
would be inclined to do so, since he had failed to receive 
merited promotion. He says : — 

♦' Bolivar, Tenn., Aug. 5, 1862. 

. . . . " In regard to the failure on the part of the 
Senate to confirm my nomination, I of course do not feel 
particularly complimented ; and think that I have been 
unfortunate in failing to excite any interest in my behalf, 
in the breasts of the patriotic and able gentlemen who now 
do Iowa the honor to represent her in the Senate. But, 
my dear, I must take the chances as they come, and can- 
not afford to resign my commission because of any real 
or fancied neglect on the part of anybody ; and at this par- 
ticular time, when the cause looks dark, and the best friends 
of the country feel gloomy over its prospects, I could not 
with honor quit my post. It would be said with apparent 
justice, that, at the hour of the country's greatest need, I 
, abandoned a cause that I knew to be just. If I am worth 
anything at all, it is now that I am needed most, and I have 
resolved that, come what may, I will stand by the old flag 
to the end." 



104 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

I will here give some further extracts from his letters, 
illustrative of what I have said of his devotion to his 
family : — 

'...." While it is gratifying to know of your affec- 
tion for me, which, God knows, I return as heartily as you 
could desire, it would be much pleasanter for me to be as- 
sured that, notwithstanding my absence, you were cheerful 
and enjoying yourself by visiting and associating with our 
friends. And I do think that it is your duty to keep up 
your spirits, and be cheerful and hopeful ; to look on the 
bright side of everything, and let hope and confidence in 
the future furnish pleasant anticipations. As for me, I am 
almost well, and feel full of hope and confidence ; and in 
building castles for the good time that is to come when the 
war shall be over, and I can return home to my darlings, 
I am completely happy. I know that all will come right, 
and that it cannot be long before I can come home, as I 
now confidently believe, in good health, and we can again re- 
sume our old happy way of living — our comforts increased 
by the memory of the dark days that have passed, in which 
hope almost deserted us. I do not enjoy the separation 
any more than you. To me it is not living, and at times 
it becomes almost intolerable, and I feel like throwing up 
my commission and coming home ; but that would not do. 
You would not approve such a course. It would hardly 
be worth while to live unless we are able to look our neigh- 
bors in the face and feel that we had done our duty, and 
earned a good reputation. I know that in all things you 
have more to suffer than I. I know that the daily duties 
and excitements to which my position subjects me afford 
relief from ennui not known to you, confined as you are at 
home. I know that the partial and loving wife, who, in 
such times as these, remains at home, confined to the dull 
routine of daily duties, and who does it bravely and cheer- 
fully, is more of a hero than the soldier who braves death 
on the battle-field." 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 105 

" August 14, 1861. 

"Many of the officers, since the work has become hard, 
are resigning and leaving their commands. This they can- 
not do with honor, and, of course, I never can and never 
will leave the men in the field and go home ; death would 
be infinitely preferable. Take good care of yourself and 
the little ones ; kiss them for me." 

As a lawyer, Crocker was successful. " Though young," 
says Captain Stuart, in his " Iowa Colonels and Regiments," 
" he ranked, at the time of entering the service, among the 
best lawyers of Des Moines, — the city which boasted one 
of the ablest bars in the State." 

As to his religion, Mrs. C. says, " No one ever placed 
more faith in his Maker; there never was a better man 
on earth." The bereaved wife does not overestimate the 
worth of her departed husband. She says that she had 
every assurance from persons who were with him when he 
died, that he fully realized his condition, and was perfectly 
prepared and willing to go. Crocker was a very humane 
man. Mrs. C. spent the winter of 1863-4 in camp with 
him, in rear of Vicksburg ; and she received many letters 
from women, thanking him through her, for his kindness 
to the destitute and helpless. 

At first he was captain of a company, then Major of the 
2d Iowa Infantry, then Lieutenant-Colonel of the same regi- 
ment ; soon he was promoted to Colonel of the 13th Iowa 
Infantry. In the battle of Corinth he commanded the 
" Iowa Brigade." In the latter part of April, 1863, he suc- 
ceeded General Quinby in the command of the 7th Division, 
17th Army Corps. He led this division in the battle of 
Jackson. " General Crocker," says Stuart, " fought and won 
this battle. Ten minutes after the order to charoe was 

given, the enemy were fleeing in total rout As soon 

as the fight was done, General Crocker rode down the line 
of the 17th Iowa, and to the other res^iments of the brigade, 



106 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

and thanked them for their gallantry ; and as he looked 
back on the hill slope, where were lying the dead and 
wounded, his eyes filled with tears, and his voice choked 
with emotion. ' Noble fellows,' said he, ' I am sorry, but 
cannot help it' " At Champion Hills he also led this divis- 
ion, which did the fighting on that day that resulted in 
victory. Early in 1863, Crocker commanded at Natchez, 
and led an expedition against Harrisonburg, destroying 
Fort Beauregard. In the fall of the same year he went 
with Sherman on his Meridian expedition. In the sum- 
mer of 1864 he went to New Mexico on duty, making Fort 
Sumner his head-quarters. His return early in the follow- 
ing spring has been already mentioned. After spending a 
short time with his family, his duties called him to Wash- 
ington. He was suffering with light intermittent fever 
when he left Des Moines, on this his last journey. He 
believed the trip would help him, but he had not gone 
fifteen miles on the way, before he became very sick. At 
Chicago he was not able to change his clothing, or hardly 
to sit up. But he went on to Philadelphia, and thence to 
Washington. Here he telegraphed for Mrs. C. to come to 
him — the first word she had received from him since he 
left home. He soon became delirious. A few moments 
before he died he seemed to have come to his right mind 
again. Opening his eyes, he looked earnestly at a lady in 
the room. Not seeing his wife, he seemed to be disap- 
pointed. He folded his hands on his breast, and died. 
Mrs. Crocker reached Washington twenty-four hours after 
his death. His remains were escorted home by the mili- 
tary, and buried with appropriate honors in the cemetery 
at Des Moines. He left a wife and five children. Gen- 
eral Marcellus M. Crocker died on the 26th day of August, 
1865. 



COMPANY F, SECOND IOWA VOLUNTEERS. 

ADJUTANT JOEL TUTTLE. 

No more beautiful tribute to the memory of a soldier can 
well be written, than the oration pronounced by Hon. Geo. 
G. Wright, of the Supreme Bench of Iowa, on the occasion 
of the funeral of Adjutant Joel Tuttle. It is in itself a 
complete memoir — rendering unnecessary anything from 
my pen. 

JUDGE Wright's address. 

" In the fall of 1857, a young man, fresh from academic 
scenes, and bearing upon his brow evidence of patient 
thought and laborious study, to me a stranger, entered my 
office as a student at law. He was introduced by his 
brother, with whom I had been long acquainted. He was 
young, — quite so, in appearance, — of medium height, lithe, 
but compact frame, dark hair, piercing black eye, features 
more than ordinarily expressive and intelligent, manners 
singularly affable and easy, a disposition joyous and pleas- 
ant, a mind manifestly clear, quick, and comprehensive. 
In a word, I had before me a youth likely to love the pro- 
fession upon which he was about entering — one admirably 
fitted, in after years, to occupy its highest positions. 

" He entered upon the study, remained under my humble 
tuition for near eighteen months, was admitted, after a most 
creditable examination, commenced his profession in the 
Western part of our noble State; left that to battle in the 
" War for the Union," — and to-day, those brothers are be- 



108 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

fore me again : the one living, but worn down and made 
aged almost, by his unsurpassed efforts in defending his 
country's cause, amid all the perils of disease, all the priva- 
tions of the devoted soldier's life, the dangers and hardships 
of Donelson and Shiloh ; the other, dead: brought a 
corpse to the home of his aged father ; returned lifeless to 
his weeping* sisters and devoted brothers. Yes, the stu- 
dent, the lawyer, the soldier, the officer, the son, the 
brother — is dead. Yes, Joel Tuttle is no more. It is 
a sad thought. It is most difficult for me, his preceptor, 
his friend ; for this father, these brothers, these sisters, to 
realize. And yet it is true — too sadly true. What of 
all this world would we not gladly surrender to have^it 
otherwise, and yet how vain the thought ! 

" He has gone from us, in this life, forever. It is left for 
us to weep and mourn for the loss, to respect his memory, 
to remember his many excellent qualities, to profit by this 
sad and sore affliction. But he shall mourn no more ; he 
lives but in memory ; he teaches but by example. 

" The deceased was born April 1st, 1838 ; and was, at 
his death, therefore, about twenty-four years of age. After 
receiving a thorough education in most of the common 
branches, he entered upon his further studies at the Miami 
University, at Oxford, Ohio, in the year 1853. Here he 
graduated in a class of 27, in the fall of 1857. Of this 
number, it is no disparagement to the others to say, as I do 
upon the most unquestionable authority, that young Tuttle 
deserved the highest honors — being distinguished for his 
close, analytical mind, his thorough knowlege of the clas- 
sics, and his approximately complete mastery of all the 
studies of the course. 

" As already stated, he, soon after leaving college, en- 
tered upon the study of the law ; which he pursued with 
great avidity and industry. It was the profession of his 
choice, as well as that of his friends, and right well did 
his rapid progress attest the correctness of their selection. 



COMPANY F, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 109 

" His highest earthly ambition was to make a deservedly 
eminent member of his most truly noble profession. And 
such, also, was the father's hope and desire. Well do I re- 
member his visit to his son, the summer after he com- 
menced his studies. Addressing me, when by ourselves, 
' Do you think it possible,' said he, ' for my boy to make a 
lawyer ? ' ' I do, sir.' ' Now,' continued he,- ' I do not 
mean one in name, one that shall receive more ridicule 
than business, but a true lawyer ; manly, dignified, honest, 
able, trusty, making for himself name, fame, position. For 
if he cannot excel, I would rather, infinitely, have Ifim hew 
wood or carry mortar ? ' I gave him a statement of the 
son's true character, and he was satisfied. 

" He was taught that success was only to be accom- 
plished by patient industry and intense application ; that 
the noblest of our profession attained their positions be- 
cause they were studious, because they lived and acted as 
honest men, because they entered upon their profession 
fully impressed with its influence in shaping their own 
moral and intellectual destiny, and the laws and institu- 
tions of the government under which they live. These 
views the young student fully appreciated and readily ap- 
proved ; and, I doubt not, had he lived, he would have 
demonstrated their correctness, and how fully he had made 
them rules for his government. 

" After his admission to the bar, he located in Council 
Bluffs in this State. He there soon formed a partnership 
with two of the most active practitioners of the place, a cir- 
cumstance which attests their appreciation of his character 
and the readiness with which he commended himself to 
the approval of the public. Popular in his manners, a 
ready sjDcaker, quick to perceive the strong points in his 
case, a character strong, marked, and decided, he was soon 
known and felt as a young man of more than ordinary 
ability. 

" He at once had troops of friends ; and far from being a 



110 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

mere negative character, it was not remarkable that he 
had opposition, and that there were found those who were 
jealous of his success. 

"And yet, I doubt if he had a personal enemy. He was 
young in the practice, but I take pleasure in stating that 
the few cases submitted by him in the highest court of 
judicature in the State, give sufficient evidence of the 
clear, logical mind of which I have spoken. He took his 
position deliberately, and when once taken, he was firm 
and immovable ; and the most careful examination will 
show that he was seldom in error. His course, however, 
was that of thousands of other brave and noble young men 
in the State. Surrounded by friends, a lucrative practice 
opening before him, a future of great promise in ci\'il life 
almost in full \'iew; he left them all for the life of a sol- 
dier. If he did not volunteer as soon as others, we may 
find an explanation in what he regarded the more impera- 
tive demands of his private business ; in his unwillingness 
to believe that a most wicked and unprovoked rebellion 
could ever assume such vast proportions as to demand that 
more than one of a noble band of brothers [his brother, 
now brigadier-general, was already in the field] should 
peril their lives in its suppression : or. it may be. in his 
accustomed cool and deliberate examination of all the prem- 
ises, before determining upon his course of action. But 
determine he did, and with him this was to act : and soon 
he was found a member of Company F. of the ever mem- 
orable Iowa Second. — a company selected by him doubt- 
less because with many of its members he had passed the 
first eighteen months of his residence in this State, and that 
it was in a regiment commanded by a brother in whom he 
had, and properly, unbounded confidence, but confirmed 
the wisdom of his choice. He was almost at once made 
Lieutenant of the company, and soon Adjutant of the regi- 
ment, which position he held at his death. 

" Of his services I need not nor have I time, to speak 



COMPANY F, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. Ill 

in detail. His cool and determined bravery no one 
doubted. He bore all the fatigues of the long and weary 
marches of his regiment without a murmur or complaint. 
He was ever prompt in the discharge of every duty. 
Prompt at the side of the sick and wounded soldier ; 
prompt to assist any one who might become weary by the 
way ; prompt to advise with the erring and wayward ; 
prompt to enforce discipline, and yet equally prompt to 
forgive an unintended error ; prompt in everything, his 
cardinal thought was the early suppression of this most 
unholy rebellion, and a happy return of peace to his dis- 
tracted country, and himself to his profession and the home 
of his family and friends. While thus engaged, it was his 
fortune to take part with his noble regiment — whose 
name is the synonym for all that is brave and glorious — 
on the ever-memorable fields of Donelson and Shiloh. 
Where all did so well, the praise of an individual would 
seem almost invidious. Of the deceased, however, in his 
connection with the first-named engagement, I may be per- 
mitted to quote the son-like, brother-like language of the 
Colonel of the regiment to their father in a private letter 
written soon after, where he says : ' After the battle was 
over, it was and is still, terrible to think of. Joel and I 
were side by side most of the time. He fought bravely, 
even a little rashly sometimes. He was not touched.' 
Words, which denote the true character of the youthful 
Adjutant. At Shiloh he never for a moment deserted 
his post of duty. On that eventful Sabbath, when the 
cause of the Union in all Tennessee, and the Mississippi 
Valley, in fact, seemed dark and hopeless, he never fal- 
tered, never wavered. At times indeed, I am assured he 
was brave and fearless, even to recklessness. A storm of 
leaden hail to him had no terrors — the sound of rebel ar- 
tillery no cause of alarm. It is said of him in the official 
report of the Colonel commanding. Baker : ' I cannot be- 
stow too high praise on the conduct of my officers and men, 



112 



AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 



during the entire time we were under arms. I am partic- 
ularly indebted to Adjutant Tuttle for the fearless and 
energetic manner in which he discharged his duties. He 
was the only mounted officer I had to assist me, and nobly 
did he perform every duty enjoined upon him.' His horse 
was wounded under him late Sunday evening, and he was 
compelled to dismount and leave him. He passed, how- 
ever, through the perils of this and the succeeding day ap- 
parently unharmed. Soon after, and even then, however, 
he met a more formidable adversary. He suffered much 
in health, and was exposed greatly during the eventful con- 
flict. Consequently he was prostrated by that disease so 
common to the army — typhoid fever — a disease which 
deprived him and the family of a mother and loved brother 
in former years. He was soon transferred to St. Louis, 
where, notwithstanding he was the recipient of every at- 
tention consistent with his position, and willingly given by 
those attracted to his bedside by his generous and noble 
nature, he expired on the 13th day of May, 1862, at half- 
past 6 o'clock, p. M. And thus died a loved son, a fond 
brother, an intelligent, worthy citizen, a promising lawyer, 
a brave soldier, an accomplished officer ; breathing his last, 
not, it is true, on the battle-field, yet with his armor on, 
and practically and efficiently battling for the cause of his 
bleeding country. 

" Some considerations present themselves in view of his 
fate, as connected with the causes leading to it. Other na- 
tions have engaged in war ; other governments have sent 
their soldiers into the field to battle for national existence 
or national honor ; other armies have organized, and been 
decimated by the relentless steel and musketry of a more 
powerful foe ; but it was reserved to this nation and this 
occasion to send forth a citizen soldiery, unsurpassed in all 
those elements which make up the active, intelligent, moral, 
upright combatant for the honor and integrity of their coun- 
try. Of the more than 500 regiments in the field, not one 



COMPANY F, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 113 

of them but contains the peer or peers of the most valued 
citizen in any department of life. They are there, not 
because they were bred to the profession of arms — not 
because war and the clangor of arms have to them any 
special charms — not of their own choice, but because 
there was a deliberate attempt on the part of rebels and 
traitors to destroy this government. And instantly they 
left all else behind — homes, schools, offices, families, 
wives, children, the sacred desk, the counting-room, the 
farm, all, everything — and rushed to unsheathe the sword, 
shoulder the musket, pass sleepless nights, undergo fatigu- 
ing marches, brave the pitiless elements, all the diseases 
consequent upon exposure, the cruel barbarity of a seem- 
ingly unchristian foe, the terrors and dangers of the battle- 
field, that thereby they might preserve their country from 
threatened ruin, and keep in its aforetime and necessary 
unity a government founded from like motives and ce- 
mented by like blood and efforts. Now nothing short of 
the highest and noblest motives could prompt to such indi- 
vidual and general sacrifices. And no meaner considera- 
tions could have enabled this government, with next to a 
bankrupt treasury, many of its most important forts in the 
hands of those in rebellion against its laws, without a navy, 
without arms, without soldiers, with treason walking at mid- 
day in its very Capitol — I say only the highest considera- 
tions could have enabled the government, under such cir- 
cumstances, in so short a time to organize so powerful a 
force — powerful in numbers, in military discipline, in 
ready submission to their new life, but above all in the 
cool courage and manly and intelligent bearing of the 
noble hearts composing it. And this very consideration 
should inspire every loyal heart at home and in the field 
with confidence in our ultimate success. God never de- 
signed that the government defended by such a soldiery 
shall be divided — overthrown. It is not, in my view, con- 
sistent with the purposes of the All-wise Will — that such 
8 



114 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

an army should be raised as by magic, should battle, and 
be slain, and die, without producing, as a result, a Union 
more firmly united, a government freer from all causes for 
strife, a nation iDurified and relieved of many of those ele- 
ments which constantly distract the public councils and 
disturb the general harmony. ' The blood of the martyr 
is the seed of the church.' And no loyal soldier like the 
one before us, ever offered up his life in defense of such a 
country, its constitution, and its laws, but that present or 
future, a common humanity received the benefit of the 
noble and willins: sacrifice. 

"Once more. An omnipotent Arm chastises as well 
as sustains. Nations, like individuals, neglect their du- 
ties, and then it is not strange if the judgments of God 
should be upon them. They come sometimes to destroy 
for national sins ; sometimes to sorely try, chasten, and 
chastise. We had sinned — worshipped not the God of 
our fathers, but gods fashioned to meet our own private 
and selfish ends. Because of this we needed chastisement. 
The judgment upon us, as I believe, is not to destroy. 
It falls with an appalling weight, and yet is, I trust, for 
our good. We needed this to arouse us from our leth- 
argy, and lead us back to the primitive days of the Re- 
public. As the chastening rod has been applied, the 
lesson is to be improved. And so God designs. We 
are sorely afflicted that we may be strengthened. We 
are nationally strongly tried, that we may, when the peril is 
passed, love our country dearer, better than ever before. 
The bloody conflict is intensified and sweeping, that the 
internal strength of the Union may be fully tested, and the 
power of its institutions demonstrated. The South is being 
ma>le to feel the horror and devastation of war, that the 
futility of a like insane attempt to destroy the government 
may be shown for all future time ; the North sees it in all 
its immensity, that peace and national tranquillity may pos- 
sess additional charms and attractions. It was necessary 



COMPANY F, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 115 

that Ellsworth and Baker and Lyon, and noble hearts like 
the one now before us, should be offered up, that the no- 
bility of the sacrifice might test our devotion and fealty to 
the Union. We send forth oar fathers, brothers, sons, and 
bid them battle for the right and die for their country, that 
the world may see that we love it, and that when the peril 
is passed, we shall love it more because of the noble per- 
sonal sacrifices made for its preservation. True it is the 
judgment is severe ; true it is that at times we complain 
of its severity ; true it is that these sacrifices are great ; but 
if the Union shall be saved, a lasting, permanent, beneficial 
lesson taught, we are remunerated, amply, doubly so ; and as 
true patriots — those living for ourselves, for our children, 
for freedom now and hereafter, here and everywhere — we 
should not, must not, will not complain. We stand for a 
common, most noble humanity. A mighty work is before 
us. We must pass, perhaps, as now, through bloody, trying 
ordeals to accomplish our mission. If so, God wills. It is 
for man to obey. 

" In this deadly conflict, all sections are made to mourn. 
Many a beating heart now before me, perhaps, waits with 
feverish, palpitating anxiety the next intelligence that may 
be brought to their doors. The next post that arrives may 
tell of a dear father gone — a brother dead — a son de- 
parted. Already have these sad messages been borne to 
our ears. Others of like fearful import may be reserved 
for the future. But, my friends, while the heart bleeds, and 
we have deep, sad mourning all around us, it is a reflec- 
tion glorious and not a little consolatory in its character, 
that in our triumphs — triumphs which we believe will tend 
much to restore peace, and the country to its accustomed 
and needed quiet — we owe much, O how nuich ! to the 
steady bravery and noble prowess of the fathers, brothers, 
and sons of the patriotic and loyal people inhabiting the 
great Mississippi Valley ; and particularly is it cause of 
proud congratulation that so much of this work, which is to 



116 AMERICAN PATPJOTISil. 

tell upon the destinies of millions yet unborn, is attributable 
to the unequaled coolness and courage of the true sons of 
our own noble State, the State pledged before the world by 
a most solemn vow — a vow carved upon the rock, making 
a part of that granite monument which slowly rises to j^er- 
petuate the memory of our country's Father — for there we 
had said : ' Iowa, her affections, like the rivers of her 
borders, flow to an inseparable Union.' And this vow, 
this pledge, we have attested by the best, the noblest blood 
of the State. 

" Therefore it is true, while we mourn we have great 
cause for congratulation. True, the cause for mourning is 
great. We could have wished, if possible, that this cup 
might have passed from us. And though we must weep, 
though hard the struggle for this father, for these brothers, 
these sisters, to give up this noble child, this much loved 
brother, one whom I know they had fondly anticipated in 
a few short months, to have settled with them in this 
beautiful city, the home of their adoption, — I say while 
the struggle is great, and while in their great bereave- 
ment they feel that there is no complete consolation, yet 
it is a pleasing and happy reflection that he fell in so noble 
a cause. The like sacrifice was oftentimes made to give 
us a country and a government. Be it ours as uncomplain- 
ingly, and with as submissive a spirit, to imitate such noble 
examples, having, as we do, even greater responsibilities. 
We must remember that while liberty and freedom are 
dear, they were not purchased without a sacrifice of life ; 
and once enjoyed, they are not to be surrendered without 
a like offering. We must remember that while such trials 
may rend the heart, there is sound philosophy as well as 
beauty in the thought, that it is sweet to die for one's coun- 
try. We must remember that a priceless heritage is ours, 
and that we cannot surrender it without proving ourselves 
unworthy the devoted donors. And remembering these 
things, let us convey all that remains of this noble youth to 



COMPANY F, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 117 

yonder cemetery, and place his body in its last resting-place 
on earth, determined to inscribe upon his tomb the true 
and expressive words, ' He died for his country/ 
Living, he would have asked no prouder epitaph ; dead, 
he can receive no more appropriate, nor more enduring 
praise." 

I will add, in connection with the foregoing, two of Ad- 
jutant Tuttle's letters, one written at Donelson, and the 
other at Shiloh, giving accounts of these battles : — 

" Fort Donelson, Feh. 19, 1862. 

" Dear Addie, — .... I shall not attempt to give 
you any information of the battle now, except what immedi- 
ately concerns myself and our regiment, as you will have 
seen it all in the papers. We had of our regiment a little 
over 500 men, rank and file, in the engagement, and lost 
44 killed, and 156 wounded. Among the killed were two 
captains and one lieutenant. I am one of the few who 
have not the mark of a bullet either upon my person or my 
clothes. James has a slight scratch from a musket-ball on 
his wrist, but not sufficient to cause any injury. I some- 
times feel superstitious when I consider the fatality which 
surrounds men on the battle-field. Ever since I joined the 
army I have felt that if ever I should be in an engagement 
I should escape without the slightest injury. So strong 
was my faith and assurance on that point, that my feeling 
of perfect security never but once — a single moment only 
^— deserted me during the whole engagement. 

" The day after the battle was a proud one for the 2d 
Iowa ; but the forty-eight hours which preceded it were 
such as I hope never to see again. Indeed, my heart and 
my body were never so heavy as they were fifteen minutes 
before it was announced that the fort had surrendered. 
We had been for forty-eight hours without sleep, and with 
but little to eat, and exposed to the most inclement weather 



lis AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

known to this latitude, without either tents or blankets. 
At 2 o'clock of the day previous, we led the charge upon 
the enemy's fortifications, fought until night, and stood be- 
hind their entrenchments until morning, in constant appre- 
hension of an attack. In the mornino: we were furnished 
with additional rounds of cartridges, and expected soon to 
be led forward to another charge, when a parley was 
sounded by the enemy, and a flag of truce displayed by both 
sides. Just afterwards we were ordered to march down the 
hill, where w^e had gone up the day before, and as we 
passed the lifeless and frozen bodies of our comrades, I 
thought it was not a very encouraging spectacle for a 
renewal of the battle. Other regiments in the mean time 
had marched up the hill ; but before we reached level 
ground, a joyous shout rang out from the thousands that 
had assembled there, announcing that the fort had surren- 
dered. We halted, and in a few moments a messenger 
came to us from General Smith, stating that the enemy had 
surrendered, and that the 2d Iowa should lead the tri- 
umphal procession, as it marched through the enemy's 
camp to the fort. The way was opened for us, and as we 
marched by, each regiment gave three cheers for the 2d 
Iowa. Our own flag, pierced by fifteen balls, was the first 
to be planted on the battlements ; and we were marched 
back along the line, and again greeted with hearty cheers. 
Imagine, if you can, how proud we felt. But we could not 
long forget our hunger and fatigue, so we went as soon as 
possible (which, strange to say, was but little before night) 
to relieving both. We found all our commissary stores 
missing, also our blankets and tents, as they had been left 
on the boat about three miles below." .... 

« Pittsburg, Tenn., April 10, 1862. 
. . . . " The first notice that we had of the approach 
of the enemy was on Friday evening the 4th inst. Our pick- 
ets were driven in on the extreme right of our lines, and a 



COMPANY F, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 119 

slight skirmish ensued, in which we took ten prisoners and 
lost about the same number. This should have been a 
sufficient warning for the attack ; but, strange to say, no 
preparation was made for it whatever. The enemy spent 
all day Saturday drawing up his forces, and arranging the 
plan of attack, yet we slept quietly in our tents and lounged 
around our camps, as though nothing had happened. At 
daylight the attack was made simultaneously on both ex- 
tremes of our line, which was in reality no line of defense 
at all, but merely, as I suppose, the exposed side of our 
promiscuous camp ; the right of which rested on a slough 
running out from the river, and the left on the river. 
We were completely surprised ; and our division, which 
was under the command of Brigadier-General Wallace, was 
camped near the junction of the river and slough, and 
had no orders except to go out until we found the enemy, 
and then pitch in. We marched out, not by division, but 
by brigade, not knowing what was on the right or left of 
us; our brigade consisting of the 2d, 7th, 12th, and 14th 
Iowa, and one Illinois battery, under the command of my 
brother. The Colonel drew up behind an old field which 
was partially covered by underbrush, and we were im- 
mediately saluted by a fire from the thick woods beyond. 
This was between 8 and 9 o'clock in the morning. 

" The enemy made three or four desperate assaults upon 
us, but were promptly repulsed each time. But it was 
evident to us that they were gaining ground, both on our 
right and left. We still hoped, however, that as tlie com- 
pass of our line became smaller, we would be better able 
to defend the position, and would finally beat them back. 
But the firing, which was one continuous roar of artillery 
and musketry, approached nearer, until about in the rear 
of us on both sides, when General Wallace gave the order 
for our brigade to fall back. But it was too late. In retir- 
ing we passed through a cross-fire from the enemy on both 
sides of us, and the 12th and 14th, which had been com- 



120 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

pletely flanked, were compelled to surrender. It was in 
the cross-fire that General Wallace was killed. My horse 
received two shots which disabled him so that I had to 
abandon him on the field. At this time it seemed that all 
was lost Our troops, encouraged by the announcement 
that General Buell had arrived with part of his force, and 
would save the day, if w^e could hold out a little longer, 
rallied for a final and desperate stand, and maintained 
their ground until darkness and storm put an end to the 
conflict for that day. 

" During the night our reinforcements crossed the river, 
and the next morning, early, our side began the attack, 
General Biiell's forces taking the lead. We went forward 
with confidence, for all could see in a moment that we 
were led by a general who understood what he was doing. 
Our lines steadily advanced, but we did not gain a foot of 
ground without fighting for it. Both sides exhibited that 
day and the preceding one all the courage and tenacity 
there is in the American character. I cannot say that one 
side exhibited more courage than the other. The Kebels 
were more sullen, seldom cheered when they gained an 
advantage, w^hile our men did. 

" I was surprised to see the calm, and even joyful expres- 
sion which usually rested on the features of the dead, 
but was more surprised to see the wounded suffer without 
murmuring, and the dying expire without a groan. 

" At 4 o'clock of the 7th, the firing gradually ceased, and 
it soon became evident that the enemy was retreating. 

. . . . " The battle-field was very extensive, compris- 
ing an area of perhaps ten or twelve square miles, and it 
is all strew^n over with the dead." 

Joel Tuttle was born in Fayetteville, Fayette County, 
Indiana, April 1, 1838. He is buried in the cemetery at 
Des Moines. Upon the large family monument is in- 
scribed, — 



COMPANY F, SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 121 

"JOEL, 

SON OF 

JAMES AND ESTHER 

TUTTLE, 

ADJUTANT, 2d IOWA 

VOLUNTEER INFANTRY, 

DIED AT 

ST. LOUIS, MO., 

MAY 13, 1862." 



COMPANY E, THIRD IOWA VOLUNTEERS. 

JAMES H. EWING 

Fell in the battle of Shiloh, at the age of twenty-four. 
He was a farmer boy. His opportunities for acquiring 
knowledge had only been such as are open to all in the 
West — the common school. He had taught school a few 
terms in the neiohborhood where he resided. He loved 
to teach. 

His letters will not fail to interest the thoughtful, ex- 
hibiting, as they do, that love of virtue, God, and coun- 
try characteristic of the youth of the free North. How 
our free institutions develop the nobler qualities of the 
soul ! How our religion beautifies and ennobles the char- 
acter ! 

" Benton Barracks, St. Louis, ) 
Nov. 13, 1861. ) 

" My dear Sister, — In my meditations retrospective, 
various pages of memory's volume pass in view, and I be- 
hold recorded here and there the associations of home and 
friends of former days ; and while feasting on the prospect 
of once more enjoying the society of loved ones, I am 
aroused from my pleasant reverie, with the solemn truth 
flashing before me that life is uncertain, and more espe- 
cially so while placed under the circumstances which sur- 
round and ever mark out the path of the soldier. But 
these truths, solemn and impressive as they are, are whole- 
some food for the mind. By contemplating our utter help- 
lessness, we are brought to seek for aid from a higher 



COMPANY E, THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 12 



o 



source. Though I ain surrounded by dangers and death ; 
though my path is thickly set with destructive shafts, I may 
survive many of my friends at home. The kind hand of 
Providence may still clear my way, and I may be permit- 
ted to behold the fruit of my labors while enjoying un- 
marred happiness with those I love ; for, be assured, my 
faith wavers not of again beholding (if life is given me) 
peace and unity reigning supreme, with liberty perching 
on all our banners, and ruling our every motion as a na- 
tion. 

" I hope you have become reconciled long ere this with 
the sacrifice yoif have been forced to make, in yielding up 
to your country's service the companion of your bosom. 
The act was noble in him who has gone to battle for the 
right. It is yours to be left alone and solitary : but it is 
his to feel and realize that interest which he has in the 
great nation now apparently sinking before us. Yes, that 
interest is stronger than the tie that binds husband to wife 
and children, children to parents, and brothers to tender, 
loving sisters ; because, if our country is lost, our hope of 
liberty is gone ; and my prayer is. If all is lost, that my 
blood may water the last expii^ing roots of our great national 
tree. I ask not to outlive it, the roots whereof our fore- 
fathers planted in their blood. Palsied be the hand that 
is raised against it ! I early imbibed a love for my coun- 
try by reading its history ; and I have frequently thought 
I would like to transmit to future generations something 
that would serve as a memento of my attachment to her. 
The opportunity offers, and I embrace it ; and if I once 
loved my country well enough to lay myself upon her altar, 
I now love it well enough to do the same thing, though 
my life were a thousand times more precious. The love 
of fame, honor, ease, affluence, or rank, has no charms for 
me, while a duty paramount to all these bars my claims to 
my services." 



124 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" December 7, 1861. 

. . . . " So far I have not only escaped the mala- 
dies which usually follow and infest the camp of the sol- 
dier, but also the contaminations incident to a soldier's 
life and associations. That I have been brought under 
such influences is true ; but a sense of honor has thus far 
guided my thoughts and desires. That wickedness of 
every kind stalks with untrammeled strides through our 
ranks is truly to be deplored, and that its influence takes 
hold on every weak and unguarded spot is the natu- 
ral result of its existence ; but he who maintains a course 
of virtue and strict integrity amid all thAe influences, is 
like a walled city, whose impregnable front remains un- 
injured after many attempts to force it. 

" You remarked that you are occasionally lonely. Why 
this should be I cannot understand. It would not be won- 
derful if I should get lonely. I am happy as the day is 
long. I find, occasionally, one deeply schooled in the 
things pertaining to our eternal welfare, and whose society 
I enjoy as a feast of love. My mind is lifted from earth, 
and my communion is with saints, and I am made to for- 
get that I am in mortal strife with my fellow-man." 

" Perhaps my friends would like to know my feelings 
with regard to a soldier's life, now that I have had some 
little experience in it. I regret not that I have engaged 
in the cause of my country. No, if I had ten thousand 
lives to sacrifice, I would freely give them all. As for re- 
muneration, I care not whether I ever receive a cent or 
not, so that I am suitably clothed and fed, and have a few 
cents to pay postage when I write to my friends, which 
I have not at this present time. 

" If it is my lot to fall in battle, or to become a prey to 
disease, remember that I trust in One who is able to save. 
If I fall by the hand of the enemy, I have yielded up life 
nobly and honorably. If it is God's will that I shall be re- 



COItfPANY E, THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. J 25 

stored to my friends, I shall be most glad to greet you all ; 
otherwise I exclaim, The will of God be done ! " 

" Camp near Quincy, III., Oct. 12, 1862. 

" JMy feet once more resting upon the free soil of Illinois, 
a different feeling inspires me from that which I felt while 
in the den of misery and constant suffering 

" When I attempt to contrast the present with the for- 
mer condition of our loved land, I am made to mourn for 
those misguided men who are attempting to deface her fair 
fame by their rebellious acts ; but neither the past nor the 
present condition of the country produces in me feelings 
that one glance at the future does, into which no mortal 
eye or mind can penetrate. Not that I am uncertain as to 
which side victory will turn ; but at the untold amount of 
suffering which will fall upon the inhabitants of the coun- 
try, I am shocked. The sword is unsheathed and will 
find its goal in the blood of thousands. Strange, passing 
strange, that men, enlightened men, under the moral and 
Christian influences of our once happy country, should re- 
sort to the sword to settle difficulties. But since such 
means have been resorted to, let me assure you that it is 
my firm conviction that victory will perch upon our ban- 
ner ; and that when the clangor of war shall cease, the 
star-spangled banner will be hailed with triumph as it 
waves to the gentle breeze over every fort and arsenal 
throughout the land ; and not only so, but it will again 
stand the pride as well as the terror of all. nations, both on 
land and sea. It will again appear as a bright and shin- 
ing light to all peoples, guiding their path to the top of the 
mountain of liberty. 

" In consequence of a great deal of sickness, as well as 
a number of wounded, we have been sent here to recruit 
our health. A portion of the regiment is at Kansas City, 
Mo., yet ; but we expect them here in a few days. I shall 
not attempt to say anything about the Blue Mills fight ; 



126 AMEPJCAX PATRIOTISM. 

but in the annals of Instory will be read, that a handful of 
brave men maintained their o-ronnd aoainst overwhelmino- 
numbers. ' They fought long and well,' will be the record. 
The opposing parties numbered as follows : Federals, 470 ; 
Rebels, 4,500." 

" Ca:\ip at Quincy, Oct. 22, 18G1. 

. . . . " I feel to sympathize with that heart that 
mourns the loss of near and dear friends ; but it is no 
mean calling to be a soldier, and he wdio sacrifices his life 
in the service of his country falls a hero whose memory 
will be revered by generations in all future tune. If I am 

destined to fall I am reconciled shame on 

the inhabitants of Washington Township that they have 
forgotten their allegiance to that country to which they owe 
their all ; because the administration is purer than they 
desire it to be, they declare they will not support it. Shame 
that any man should attempt to hide his disloyalty by 
casting opprobrious epithets upon the men in authority ! 

" But many say, ' I have the care of a family upon 
me ! ' O worse than no excuse for your inactivity ! Whom 
should we find in our army ? Him who might say. •• Why 
should I go ? I have nobody to care for, but myself ; why 
should I risk my life ? If the government does not suit 
me I can go somewhere else. I have nothing to keep me 
bound to the shores of America. I will go where wars do 
not exist' — or 'him who has intrusted to his care the lives 
and fortunes, the best interests of a wife and family ? 
The latter, of course, is the most responsible ; but we 
hear them saying, ' I cannot go and leave my wife and 
children.' 

"Allow nothing which befalls me to mar your happi- 
ness ; for God is my helper and my shield. I fear not; 
for He is with me, and sanctifies to me my deepest dis- 



COMPANY E, THIKD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 127 

tresses. If any of my old Christian associates inquire of 
my welfare, tell them my joy is complete. I feel no doubts 
nor fears. God is mine and I am His. Whether in the 
tented field or amidst the smoke of battle, I am resio-ned 
to my position and lot. To see them would be joy ; but to 
know that they pray for me and intercede for my welfare 
is true happiness. May God bless all with whom I have 
been hitherto associated in a religious capacity, and may 
their joy be full. I remember the children, with prayers 
that they may be useful in the world. teach them loy- 
alty to their country, 

" Your brother, 

"J. H. EWING." 

" Keokuk, June 1, 1861. 

. . . . " We have daily prayer-meetings. We have 
a sermon preached exclusively to the soldiers each Sab- 
bath, besides o-eneral class-meetinos for our benefit. I 
have heard the most talented of the pulpit orators of our 
State since I have been here, among whom is Rev. Pearl 
P. Ingalls. a stationed pastor in the city. He officiates in 
the Chatham Square M. E. Church. 

" The hospital, aside from the many churches which I 
have visited, is the only place of real interest to me in the 
city. I spent one week' there, and I must say that I never 
felt happier. My mind was at perfect peace, though my 
body was sorely afflicted. During my stay at the hospital, 
I formed many, very many worthy acquaintances, of one 
of which only I shall particularly speak — a lady whom I 
shall call Mrs. Wittenmyer. She called daily to visit the 
sick, and to minister to their wants both spiritual and tem- 
poral. One day, while on her errand of mercy, she came 
to my couch, as was .her wont, and finding me convales- 
cent, we conversed for a long time. She went to her own 
home and brought me a nice dinner and a mess of straw- 
berries, for which I was thankful ; and she sent me from 



128 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

her own house a pillow for my bed. I name this not as 
an isolated case ; for many, very many ladies of Keokuk 
are willing, and do seek to contribute to the comfort of the 
soldiers. My prayer is that God may bless them in their 
labors of love." 

Ewing was born in Huron County, Ohio. He fell fight- 
ing in the ranks — a private soldier. Though he had 
been elected Second Lieutenant of his company by his 
comrades, he had not yet received his commission. 

".Camp of Third Iowa Infantry, \ 

Near Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., Ajrril 12, 1862. ) 
" JAMES EWING, Esq. : 

" Dear Sir, — You will doubtless have heard, ere this 
reaches you, of the death of your son, James H. Ewing. 
It is with feelings of the deepest sorrow that I undertake 
to write you of the manner of his death ; but this feeling 
is mingled wuth a mournful pleasure, because I have the 
privilege of testifying to his worth, and the universal es- 
teem and regard in which he was held by all who knew 

him in the regiment Ever ready to do his 

duty as a soldier, firm and consistent in his friendships, 
of an ardent temperament, the cause he espoused engaged 
his whole soul. I never knew a more consistent young 
man in my life. He was a true Christian, and never became 
contaminated with the vi^s and temptations which so con- 
stantly beset the soldier He went into action 

with the company Sunday morning, the 6th instant, and 
during the day displayed conspicuous bravery. He fell 

about four o'clock, p. m There was not a man 

in the company but felt bowed down and saddened by his 
loss. He had not a single enemy except the rebel that 
killed him ; and could he have known how pure and noble 
a life he was destroying, his arm would have been stayed 
before he fired the fatal shot He is decently 



COMPANY E, THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 129 

interred by himself, and his grave is marked with his 
name, and company and regiment to which he belonged. 
" Very truly yours, 

" GEORGE W. CROSBY, 
" First Lieutenant Company E, 3d Iowa Infantry Volunteers.^' 

SERGEANT JOHN HARRISON SMITH. 

The following account of the life of John Harrison 
Smith is taken from the " Boone County News," of May 
loth, 1862: — 

" There is one amonof the number of those we have men- 
tioned whose life has been rather an eventful one, and we 
will mention a few of the more important events in which 
he took part. We speak of John Harrison Smith. He was 
born in Burlington, Vt., where he was reared. At the 
commencement of the Mexican War he enlisted as a pri- 
vate, and went through the whole campaign, discharging his 
duties with fidelity and zeal. He was at the battle of 
Cherubusco, the storming of Molino del Rey, Chepultepec, 
and city of Mexico — four of the most desperate and 
bloody battles of that sanguinary war. After receiving an 
honorable discharge, he returned to his business, married, 
and settled down a quiet and honored citizen. But when 
the flag of his country was assailed by those who should 
have been the first to have died in its support, he laid aside 
the implements of his peaceful avocation, and flew to the 
defense of that glorious old flag that he had battled for so 
nobly in Mexico. He was made sergeant of Company E, 
Third Iowa Infantry, and was with that company and took 
active part in the battle of Blue Mills last fall. He went 
to Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., and on the 6th of April 
yielded up his life upon the altar of his country. He fell 
in the prime of life, full of vigor and manhood; but he died 
as a patriot soldier,. fighting for the liberties of freemen and 
the laws of his country." 
9 



130 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

He was well educated. His father-in-law, John S. Beales, 
lives in Madison Township. This soldier died, aged 34, 
leaving a wife and four children. He writes to his elder 
son : — 

" Camp in Tennessee, March 25, 1862. 

" My dear Son, — I received two letters from you, which 
pleased me very much. I am glad that you have paid so 
much attention to your school, and I hope that you may 
continue to do so. I can read your letters, and feel proud 
to think that my dear son wrote them. 

" You must pay strict attention to study, so that you may 
become a great and useful man. Your claim to be Presi- 
dent of the United States is just as good as anybody's, if 
you but fit yourself for that position. It all lies with you 
whether you will be a great scholar or not. I want you 
to be very careful what example you set before your brother 
and sisters. A great deal depends on you. 

" My dear son, I expect when I come home to hear that 
you have been a good boy. Give my love to Henry, and 
tell him to be good and obey his mother. Give my love to 
your dear little sisters, and kiss them for me. Tell them 
to be good children, and pa will come home some time, if he 
lives through the terrible war. 

" My dear boy, I expect you to help your mother all you 
can in my absence. You must stay at home with her. 
Be dutiful and obedient to her who has been left alone with 
you till my return." 

, JOHN LEWIS WOODS. 

Born in Elkhart County, Indiana, May 2oth, 1840, he 
lived there with his parents until 1854, when the family 
emigrated to White Oak Grove, Polk County, Iowa. 
Woods was very anxious to enlist in the first company or- 
ganized in the county; but before he could reach Des 
Moines to enroll his name, the company was full. He 



COMPANY E, THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 131 

joined company E, 3cl Iowa Infantry, May 21, 18G1. He 
was with his company at the battle of Bhie Mills. After 
this engagement, he was taken with typhoid fever. He 
lay at Quincy, 111., in a delirious state for several weeks — 
his nurse being obliged to bind him in his bed. After a 
partial recovery he came home on furlough, where his 
mother nursed him until he was again able to rejoin his 
company. The 3d Iowa, in the battle of Pittsburg Land- 
ing, was in the hottest part of the fray, and lost heavily. 
No more resolute soldier was struck on that day than the 
subject of this sketch — John Lewis Woods. A musket- 
ball passed through his body near the stomach. He walked, 
after receiving this wound, two miles to hospital. He was 
wounded on the 6th, and died on the 9th of April. Thus 
fell an industrious and brave young man. He says, in one 
of his letters to his parents, " I shall ever be found where 
duty calls." His love of home, parents, brothers, and sis- 
ters, was intense. 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY. 

This company was organized in Des Moines, Iowa, and, 
commanded by Captain H. H. Griffiths and Lieutenants 
Wilmer S. Simmons and Isaac Whicher, it went to Council 
Bluffs, and was there mustered into the United States ser- 
vice, Aug. 8, 1861. After this time its history became a part 
of that of the 4th Iowa Infantry.^ The commissioned offi- 

1 " The 4th Iowa Infantry was organized during the month of July, 1861, 
rendezvousing at Camp Kirkwood, two miles south of Council BluflFs. Its 
organization was perfected, and the regiment left the State on the 9th day 
of August, 1861, under command of Colonel Granville M. Dodge, Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel John Galligan, Major Wm. R. English, and Adjutant James 
A. Williamson. It arrived at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., August 12th, 1861; 
remained at this post until August 24th, when it was ordered to RoUa, Mo. 
At this post it remained in winter-quarters until January 22d, 1862, when, 
as a part of the army of the Southwest, it left its comfortable quarters to 
participate in the campaign against the rebel forces, then in occupation of 
Springfield, commanded by General Sterling Price. From the above date, 
until February 21st, the regiment, in common with the army, endured one 
of the severest campaigns of the war, oftentimes marching through snow-' 
storms, mud, and slush, ankle and knee deep. 

" Driving Price from his works at Springfield, it continued the chase 
until the 21st, when it was ordered to halt, going into McCuUoch's old 
camp at Cross HoUoavs, Arkansas. 

" Receiving information that the concentrated forces of Generals Price, 
McCulloch, Van Dorn, Mcintosh, and Pike were moving upon us. General 
Curtis ordered his forces to concentrate, on the night of the 5th of INIarch, 
at Sugar Creek. The regiment moved from camp at 9 o'clock, p. m., 
marching to the point designated, a distance of twelve miles, through a 
terrible snow-storm, arriving at da3'light almost perished from the night's 
exposure. 

'• On the morning of the 7th of March, by order of Colonel Dodge (who, 
upon leaving RoUa, was detached from the regiment, and now our brigade 
commander), the regiment was marched about two miles from camp, tak- 



COMPANY E. FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 133 

cers in the company during the war were Captains Henry 
H. Griffiths and Wihner S. Simmons ; First Lieutenants, 



ing position near Elkhorn Tavern, on the right of the brigade near Ozark 
Pass. The enemy being in close proximity to its present position, two 
companies were immediately deployed and sent forward as skirmishers. 
They soon became desperately engaged with the enemy, bringing on a 
general attack along our entire line. While the skirmish line was stub- 
bornly contesting their ground, but being gradually forced in, Colonel Dodge 
changed his front to the right, which still left Ihe regiment on the extreme 
right of the brigade, as well as the whole army. In this position, the regi- 
ment stood until about sundown, desperately fighting against five times its 
•numbers. Every discharge dealt death to its ranks, when, by a flank 
movement on the part of the enemy, in overwhelming numbers, with their 
artillery at the same time placed so as to completely enfilade its entire 
lines, with the left exposed, which was also flanked, it was compelled to fall 
back, which it did in splendid order, fighting its way out, and in so doing 
exhausting all its ammunition. While thus engaged, it was met by Gen- 
eral Curtis, who ordered it to fix bayonets and charge back upon the ad- 
vancing enemy, which it did gallantly, eliciting from the General, in his 
oflflcial report, the following compliment: 'This regiment won immortal 
honors.' 

" On the morning of the 8th, it took its place again on the extreme right, 
marching forward in line of battle until ordered to halt. At an early hour, 
the battle was renewed with the same determination that characterized the 
terrible battle of the day before. The forces of the whole army, artillery, in- 
fantry, and cavalry having been concentrated during the night upon one 
point, now opened a most intense and terrific fire upon the enemy's massed 
columns, lasting until 10 o'clock, when the entire rebel army gave way, 
and in perfect confusion and disorder retreated from the field, leaving their 
dead and wounded in our possession. 

" The regiment was terribly cut up in this battle, losing, out of 500 en- 
gaged, in killed and wounded, over 180 men. Colonel Dodge had three 
horses killed and wounded under him. Lieutenant-Colonel Galligan, who 
commanded the regiment, was wounded early on the day of the 7th, de- 
volving the command upon Captain H. H. Griflfiths. Lieutenant Jas. A. 
Williamson, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General of the Brigade, was also 
wounded, but remained on the field during the entire engagement, receiving 
from the brigade, division, and' army commanders great praise for his daring, 
coolness, and efficient services. 

*' Colonel Dodge, for distinguished services after this battle, was promoted 
to the rank of brigadier-general, his commission dating May 1st, 1802. 

"Lieutenant-Colonel John Galligan resigned his commission April 3d, 
1862. 

" Lieutenant James A. Williamson, Adjutant of regiment, was promoted 
for meritorious services to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, vice Galligan re- 
signed, his commission dating April 4th, 1862, and from thence to the rank 
of colonel, for same reasons. 



134 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

John E. Sell, Seldon C. Treat, Emerson Bramhall ; Second 
Lieutenants, Richard Ross, Felix T. Gandy ; connnissioned 

" The regiment remained in camp near the battle-field until March 20th, 
when it was again ordered out and marched from day to day, during the 
wet mouths of April, May, June, and Jul}-, through Southwestern Mis- 
souri and Northern Arkansas, striking' the White and Black Rivers at 
Bates ville and Jacksouport, and from thence following the course of White 
River along and through its low bottom lands and cypress swamps to 
Helena, Ark., at which point it arrived on the 14th day of July, 18G2. It 
remained at this post until the 22d day of December, when, with the bal- 
ance of the army, it moved down the Mississippi River as a part of the at- 
tacking forces against Vicksburg, Miss. » 

" It was the leading regiment in the charge and battle of Chickasaw 
Bayou, on the 27th, 28th, and 29th days of December, and of its conduct 
there the following ample testimonials from General Thayer's official re- 
port speak well of its gallantry and efficiency : — 

" ' The conduct of the noble Fourth Iowa Infantry, both officers and men, 
throughout this terrible ordeal, is w^orthy of the highest praise. They 
pressed steadily and firmly forward. There was no flinching there. 
They entered the enemy's works in splendid style. Colonel Williamson 
marched at the head of his column, and b}' his coolness and heroic courage 
won my unqualified admiration. He is deserving the favorable considera- 
tion of his government. He was struck by three balls, but was not seri- 
ously wounded, and remained on the field the remainder of the day.' 

" After this battle, the regiment embarked and went up the Arkansas 
River, participating on the 10th and 11th of January, 1863, in the battle of 
Arkansas Post; afterwards returning to Vicksburg Landing at Young's 
Point on the 22d of January. It remained at this place until the 2d of 
April, when it was ordered to take a part in the celebrated raid in the Deer 
Creek Valley, returning on the 2d day of Ma}', via Richmond, Louisiana, 
after which it moved on Vicksburg, where, on the 18th, it arrived, and com- 
menced the memorable siege. Immediately after the surrender of Vicks- 
burg, on the 4th day of July, it moved on .Jackson, Miss. Completing the 
object for which it was sent out, it returned and went into camp on the 
29th day of July, on the banks of Black River, Miss. It remained in camp 
at this place until the 23d day of September, 1863, when it was sent out on 
the campaign to Northern Georgia, marching via Memphis, Tenn., and 
luka, Miss., and from thence to Lookout Mouatain, Ga., participating during 
the march in the battles of Cherokee Station, Barton's Station, Canie Creek, 
and Tuscumbia, arriving at the foot of Lookout Mountain on the 23d of 
November. 

'* On the morning of the 24th, the regiment again received orders to pre- 
pare for battle (the division to which it belonged having been cut otF from its. 
corps by the breaking of the pontoon bridge crossing the Tennessee River, 
General Sherman ordered General Ousterhaus, the division commander, to 
act in conjunction with General Hooker). At 9 o'clock, the division hav- 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 135 

as Assistant Surgeons of the 4th Iowa regiment, Alexan- 
der Shaw and David Beach, of Des Moines. Dr. Shaw 

ing been formed in massed column, with the 2d brigade in the advance, 
Colonel Williamson commanding, and the Fourth Iowa in the advance of the 
brigade, the order was sounded to go forward. Intervening, and to within 
one hundred yards of the enemy's Avorks, ran Lookout Creek, a very deep 
stream, with only a foot-bridge crossing it. At least an hour's time was 
occupied in gaining possession and effecting a crossing. From 10 o'clock, 
A. M. until late in the afternoon, the passage up the mountain was stub- 
bornly resisted, the enemy contesting every inch of the ground. So steep 
in many places was the ascent, that by main strength the troops were com- 
pelled to pull themselves up from one point to another under a continuous 
fire from the enemy. 

" Sundown found the regiment on the table-land, still many hundred 
yards from the summit, and still fighting. In reaching the cliff, night 
having overtaken the regiment, the men became considerably disorganized, 
owing to the nature of the ground, it being such as to render it impossible 
to march in line. Major S. D. Nichols, now commanding the regiment, 
ordered the men to ascend without reference to company or regimental or- 
ganization until they reached the base of the cliff, after which, by the un- 
tiring eftbrts of Major Nichols and the company officers, it was reorgan- 
ized and shifted to the extreme left, under a severe and ceaseless fire from 
the enemy, who were now holding the clifi" immediately above and over the 
heads of the regiment. 

*' It was now about 9 o'clock, p. m., when the cry for more ammunition 
was heard along the entire line. Messengers were immediately dispatched 
to Colonel Williamson apprising him of the situation, and in less than 
twenty minutes details from the Thirtieth Iowa, who were lying in reserve, 
headed by Colonel Williamson and his entire stafi", reported to the regiment, 
conveying with them ammunition sufficient to supply the entire command. 
The lighting at this point lasted until midnight, when the enemy withdrew, 
and Lookout Mountain was crowned with the American Flag and the 
' boys in blue.' 

" On the morning of the 25th, it descended the mountain, and became en- 
gaged about noon on Missionary Ridge. In this battle the regiment was 
deployed as skirmishers, leading the attack, and holding the advance 
throughout the engagement, which lasted until sundown. When it had 
reached the top of Missionary Ridge, after having driven the enemy be- 
fore them, and after having captured over 500 Rebels, General Hooker came 
along. Looking steadfastly at the Iowa boys, he asked the name of the 
regiment. On being answered, he said : — 

" ' Boys, you have a splendid regiment. Permit me to say, however, 
that you are a littie too fast ! When you get started after the Rebels, the 
very devil himself can't stop you.' 

"Remaining on the battle-field during the night of Nov. 25tli, the regi- 
ment buried its dead, and rested until daylight on the morning of the 26th, 



136 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

was afterward commissioned Surgeon of the 29th Infantry, 
in which capacity he continued in the army until near the 

when it was hurried out of camp in pursuit of the enemy, who were now in 
full ri'trcat. Ovcrtakiiiii; Ccneral Chiibornc's division on the morning of 
the 20^1, at Ringgold, Ga., it, in connection with the Iowa Brigade, im- 
mediately became engaged, and in common with the whole brigade, did 
some of the most desperate fighting of the whole campaign. In many 
places, the two opposing lines were not over twenty feet apart. Colonel 
Williamson, in this battle, was the first to reach the top of the ridge, and 
simultaneously to his doing so, iliree times three was given to him by 
his whole command. 

'* After this battle the whole command was countermarched back to 
Chattanooga, and from thence the regiment was marched to Woodville, 
Alabama, at which place it was ordered to go into winter-quarters. 

" During the mouth of January, 18G4, while at Woodville, all the members 
of the rcginieuf, with but a few exceptions, reenlistcd as veterans; and on 
the '2()th day of l''eb. the regiment took its departure for home, to enjoy for 
a short time a furlough among their many friends in Iowa. It returned to 
the field on the Ist day of May, 18G4, when it was immediately put in mo- 
tion, with tlie balance of the army, in the campaign against the rebel Gen- 
eral Joimston, niarcliing from day to day, without an hour's preparation, 
after its return to the field, until tiie !)th, when it engaged the enemy in their 
works twelve miles below Dalton, Ga. 

" From the above date until the 9th day of Sept., it Avas continually en- 
gaged, participating in the mean time in the following battles: At Resaca, 
May 12, 13, 14, and 15. At Kingston, Ga., May 19. At Dallas, Ga., May 
26, 27, 28, and 29. At Big Shanty Station, Ga., June 11. Before Kene- 
saw Mouufain, June 27. Before Atlanta, in the memorable battles of the 
22d and 28th days of July. Siege of Atlanta. At Joncsboro, Aug. 31; and 
at Lovejo3''s Station, Ga., Sept. 2d, 1864, from which point it marched back 
to East Point, Ga., arriving on the 9th of Sept., and remaining in camp 
until Oct. 5, 1864. 

" After the above enumerated battles and marches, it was with Sherman 
in the campaign against Hood, in his ' March to the Sea,' and in the Carolina 
campaigns, participating in the battles of Congaree Creek, S.C. ; Columbia, 
S. C. ; and Bentonville, N. C. From Goldsboro it marched to Raleigh, N. C. ; 
thence to Riclimond, Va. ; and to Washington, D. C, where it formed a part 
of the grand review. It was sent from thence to Louisville, Ky., where it 
remained until July 23, 1865, when it was mustered out of the U.S. service, 
and ordered to Davenport, Iowa, to be finally discharged and paid off. 

" During the campaign to the sea, Colonel Williamson was promoted to 
the rank of brigadier-general. The following is an extract from his fare- 
well address to his regiment: — 

" ' It need not bo said to men like you, who have fought on more than 
thirty dillerent battle-fields; who, under Curtis, " toon immortal honors,'' at 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 137 

close of the war. Of the members of the 4th Iowa Regi- 
ment from Polk County, James A. Williamson, of Des 

Pea Ridge, and made the memorable march through Missouri and Arkan- 
sas in midsummer; who were ordered by Gen. Grant to inscribe "First 
AT Chickasaw Bayou," on your banners ; who were under Sherman at 
Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post; who were under Grant through 
the entire campaign of Vicksburg, including Jackson and Brandon ; who 
marched from Vicksburg to Chattanooga under Sherman ; who fought wi^a 
Hooker above the clouds at Lookout Mountain, and were with him at Mis- 
sionary Ridge and Ringgold; who were under Sherman through the entire 
Atlanta campaign, and participated in every battle; and who, again, under 
their great leader, made the famous " March to the Ocean," and thence to 
Washington — to be good citizens.' 

"Major Nichols was promoted during the Atlanta campaign to the 
rank of lieutenant-colonel, and from thence to colonel, vice Williamson 
promoted brigadier-general. 

" Capt. A. R. Anderson of Company K was promoted major, and from 
thence lieutenant-colonel, vice Nichols promoted colonel. 

CASUALTIES IN THE REGIMENT DURING THE WAR. 

" Officers, 40 ; men, 665. Total loss, 711. 

" The actual loss in battle by the Fourth Infantry exceeds that of any 
other regiment from the State. 

LIST OF BATTLES AND SIEGES IN WHICH IT PARTICIPATED. 

" At Sugar Creek, Ark., Feb. 17, 1862. 
At Pea Ridge, Ark., March 7 and 8, 1802. 
At Chickasaw Bayou, Miss., Dec. 27, 28, and 29, 1862. 
At Arkansas Post, Jan. 10 and 11, 1863. 
At Black Bayou, Miss., April 16, 1863. 
At Jackson, Miss., May 14, 1803. 

At Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., from May 18 to July 4, 1803. 
At Clinton, Miss., July 8, 1803. 
At Jackson, Miss., from July 10 to 10, 1803. 
At Brandon, Miss., July 19, 1863. 
At Cherokee Station, Miss., Oct. 21, 1863. 
At Barton's Station, Miss., Oct. 23, 1863. 
At Canie Creek, Miss., Oct. 24, 1863. 

At Tuscumbia, Miss., Oct. 24, 1803. -I 

At Lookout Mountain, Ga., Nov. 24, 1863. 
At Missionary Ridge, Ga., Nov. 25, 1863. 
At Ringgold, Ga., Nov. 27, 1863. 
At Dalton, Ga., May 9, 1864. 
At Resaca, Ga., May 12, 13, 14, and 15, 1804. 



138 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Moines, rose to the rank of brigadier-general. The first 
called to take his place in the ranks of the honored dead 
of Company E, was 

SERGEANT JAMES A. MOORE, 

Who enlisted in the company July 15, 1861, and was 
drowned August 12, 1861. Captain H. H. Griffiths says 
of Moore : — 

" Well known as Cap. Moore in Des Moines, a man of 
good parts, a lawyer by profession, he was fifth sergeant 
of his company and acting commissary sergeant ; was val- 
uable and efficient in every respect. While superintending 
the removal of the company property from the Steamer 
Hannibal City to a barge alongside, as the company was, 
en route for St. Louis, he stepped between the boat and 

At Kingston, Ga., May 19, 1864. 

At Dallas, Ga., May 26, 27, 28, and 29, 1864. 

At Big Shanty Station, Ga., June 11, 1864. 

At Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., June 27, 1864. 

At Atlanta, Ga., July 22, 1864. 

At Siege of Atlanta, 1864. 

At Atlanta (second), July 28, 1864. 

At Jonesboro', Ga., Aug. 31,-1864. 

At Lovejoy's Station, Sept. 2, 1864. 

At Savannah, Ga., Dec. 20, 1864. 

At Congaree Creek, S. C, Feb. 15, 1865. 

At Columbia, S. C, Feb. 17, 1865. 

At Bentonville, N. C, Feb. 20, 1865. 

" List of rebel States through which the regiment marched during the 
war: — 

" Missouri, Georgia, 

Arkansas, South Carolina, 

Louisiana, North Carolina, 

Mississippi, Virginia, 

Tennessee, Kentucky. 
Alabama, 

" GEORGE A. HENRY, 

" Capi. Company A, Uh loioa Infantry Voluntte.rt.'''' 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 139 

barge, and was drowned. I saw and talked with him a few 
moments before. The common impression that he was in- 
toxicated when he lost his life, is a mistake. Durino- his 
short term of service he was faithful to his trust, and was 
evidently doing his utmost to correct bad habits." 

Moore left a wife and family to whom he was greatly 
attached. I saw him when he entered the stage-coach in 
Des Moines to depart for the war. The big tears stood in 
his eyes as he bade adieu to his home, wife, and little ones. 
These are all the facts of his history that have come to my 
knowledge. His wife and children do not now live in this 
county. 

fra:ncis p. yokener, 

A NATIVE of Bavaria, enlisted as a private in Company E, 
July 15, 1861, leaving behind him a wife to whom he had 
been married but a few days. He died of disease at Rolla, 
Mo., October 12, 1861. Captain Griffiths says of him : — 

" He was a German of education and refinement, a fine 
penman and linguist, tall and good looking, a splendid 
soldier. Had he lived, he was capable of any command 
and responsibility." 

He died at the age of twenty-five ; had been a resident 
of Des Moines several years, working in Mills & Co.'s 
printing-office as a journeyman printer and teaching school. 

JAMES M. NEEDHAM, 

Age eighteen, native of Michigan, a private, enlisted 
July 15, 1861, and died Jan. 4, 1862, of pneumonia, at 
Rolla, Mo. '•' He was a man of great strength and power- 
ful constitution," says Captain Griffiths, " and a first-rate 
soldier." 

He was working in Saylor Township, Polk County, at the 



140 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. ' 

beginning of the war, an industrious and patriotic young 
man. I believe that he has no relatives living in this 
county. I remember meeting him several times. He was 
fine looking and intelligent. He made his home at Mr. 
Harris's and Mr. Huffmann's ; had been living in the county 
about twelve months. His parents live near Swede Point, 
in Boone County. 

SERGEANT EDWIN WESLEY BARNUM. 

I FIND in the report of the Adjutant-General of Iowa the 
following account of Company E, 4th Iowa Infantry, at the 
battle of Pea Ridge : — 

" At the battle of Pea Ridge, March 7, 1862, Company 
E was thrown forward to support a section of the 1st Iowa 
Battery, and was the first to open fire upon the enemy in 
that bloody battle. It was under fire the entire day, having 
two killed, three mortally and eight severely wounded." 

One of the killed was Sergeant E. TV. Barnum, and the 
other, Hiram Cornish. Soon after the battle Mrs. Barnum 
received the following from the pen of Captain H. H. Grif- 
fiths : — 

" It is with sorrow that I sit down to say to you that your 
gallant husband, who fell at the battle on the 7th, fighting 
to the last for the flag of our country, is dead. His body 
rests on the field on which he fought, now rendered conse- 
crated ground by the blood of our soldiers. He was a 
faithful soldier, and an honest and brave man, whose loss to 
his company is irreparable. He was killed by a six pound 
ball striking him in the left breast, passing out under his 
right shoulder. He suffered no pain whatever." 

Captain Griffiths says farther, in speaking of Barnum : — 
" He was second sergeant, a true and faithful man, and 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 141 

an invaluable non-commissioned officer. When killed, he 
was some yards in front of the line, setting a splendid ex- 
ample of gallantry. Barnum had a strict manly sense of 
duty, was conscientiously prompt and faithful, and although 
he suffered throughout the last march with some painful 
bodily illness, and lost for weeks the power of speech except 
in a whisper, still he marched on with his company and was 
always ready for duty. He died a noble death, such as any 
soldier might pray for when his time was fully come." 

Says Charles W. Greene : — 

" On the morning of the 7th we were in line at 2 a. m., 
when Companies E, K, and H were detailed to skirmish with 
a battery that was playing on the 9th Iowa. About noon 
we were driven back and formed the main line. Sergeant 
Barnum was now ordered to take command of a skirmish 
line from our regiment and move across a field to see what 
the enemy was doing. We beheld their solid line advanc- 
ing, and we drew back. As we retreated across a field, 
Sergeant B. and a man bv the name of Hiram Cornish 
stopped behind a stump about twenty steps in advance of 
the regiment, where they remained until the battle was 
over, both having been killed. On the 9th of March, thev 
(with another soldier of our company) were buried under 
a broad oak-tree." 

I will give such quotations from the letters written by 
Sergeant Barnum to his wife, as I think will be of general 
interest, illustrating his character as a Christian, a husband, 
and a father : — 

'* Jefferson Barracks, Aug. 23, 1861. 
" I am almost sorry sometimes when I think that you are 
all alone, that I did not stay at home ; but if we put our 
trust fully in our Redeemer, we shall never regret the sac- 
rifices we may have to make. With love and kisses to all, 
I bid you farewell. Kiss the babes for me." 



142 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" RoLLA, Oct. 14, 1861. 
" Poor Yokener is dead ! Yesterday at two o'clock he 
was buried with military and Odd Fellows' honors. He 
was an Odd Fellow, and belonged to the Printers' Associa- 
tion, and Good Templars. He was a very intelligent young 
man, — a member of the Episcopal Church. He was re- 
spected most by those who knew him best. I pity his poor 
wife. Married but four short days before he joined the 
army, they separated with the best of hopes for the future. 
Let us learn a lesson from this, and try to be prepared for 
the worst, still hoping for the best." 

" RoLLA, Dec. 12. 
" It looks hard to see young men cut down in the vigor 
of their years, rea.dy and anxious to do duty for their 
country. But if we are only prepared to meet our God, it 
is as well in the tented field or on the battle-ground as 
anywhere else. It is best that we have the right idea of 
this, that we may put our trust in God and be prepared for 
any dispensation of His Providence." 

" RoLLA, Jan. 13, 1862. 

" We have lost one more man of our company, James 
Needham, a large and fine looking young man. We have 
lost a good many men lately ; forty-eight in all, since Octo- 
ber, have died of disease in this regiment. James A 
Moore of our company was drowned. It is a sad sight to 
see two or three men taken at a time to the burial-orround. 
" Captain Wood's cavalry have been out on a scout near 
Springfield, and captured sixteen secesh right from Price's 
army. Two of these men were New Y^'orkers, brought up 
in an enlightened community, now way down here in Mis- 
souri taking part against their country. They are keen, 
shrewd fellows, and never went in blind, but had some mo- 
tive ; probably thought that they could make more money 
that way than any other. I have not much sympathy for 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 143 

such. In fact I feel more as though such men should be 
shot than those who have been brought up to feel that we 
are continually working against their interests. Many a 
one has gone into the Southern army without knowing 
what he was going to fight for — many even believing that 
they were fighting for the Constitution, thinking that we 
had broken it, and that they were fighting to make us live 
up to it." 

The following letter gives an account of the march of 
the regiment from Rolla to Springfield, and shows how the 
soldiers managed to keep from freezing winter nights. 
This letter was one of the last written by Barnum : — 

" Camp No. 8, near Lebanon, \ 
1 Feb. 1, 1862. ] 

. . . . " The first day out, we only travelled five miles 
to a large spring, and I got lodging on the floor of a farm 
house near by. The second day we travelled nine miles 
to the Gasconade. It was a pretty hard day on me, but I 
was favored with a night's lodging in one of the ambulances, 
so that I got along pretty well. The next day some of the 
wagons were unloaded and the boys were taken over by 
wagon loads. I rode on an ambulance. We only went 
some three miles. I gathered a large lot of weeds for a bed, 
and slept in the tent. The next day we travelled about fif- 
teen miles, and camped at an old deserted farm with a large 
orchard. We generally clean the fences as we go along. 
The next night we camped on the West Oglaze Branch. It 
rained some through the day and evening. We found a 
large barn filled with wheat and straw, and Hungarian 
grass. It was a sight to see the soldiers carrying away the 
straw and hay for beds. The barn was soon emptied. It 
rained and snowed all night. The next morning our clothes 
and shoes were frozen stiff." 

Since copying the above Mrs. B. has given me tw^o other 



144 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

letters of her husband's — one dated Feb. 28, and the 
other March 1. The following is his account of 

THE CAPTURE OF SPRINGFIELD. 

" We went within nine miles of Springfield, and encamped 
by a nice little brook. Our regiment being put in the 
bush before we encamped, as an advance guard, had one or 
two little skirmishes with Price's pickets, they retreating- 
each time Early the next morning we were on 

our way to Springfield. Coming to a large open field, we 
looked for an attack. Our brigade was soon drawn up in 
line of battle, and our company (Company E) sent out as 
skirmishers. Company K. followed as a reserve. We 
travelled through field after field, meeting no enemy. Soon 
we came to a halt, the company was assembled, and we 
started forward — the boys all anxious to take Springfield. 
We went in quick time, meeting no enemy in force, but 
we took ten prisoners, who came in mounted and armed to 
join Price. We entered Springfield, and the boys found 
any quantity of gingerbread, beer, cider, etc. Col. Dodge 
lost track of us and sent men in all directions to find the 
skirmishers, and Captain Griffiths, Acting Major, among the 
rest went in search of us, and came into Springfield. He 
returned and told Gen. Davis and Col. Dodge that Com- 
pany E had been in Springfield ever since daylight. The 
army had been advancing in battle line and at a very slow 
rate of speed, for fear of masked batteries ; but they came 
on in quick time when they found out that Springjield was 
taken ! " 

Barnum was reared in Michigan, born in Ypsilanti, 
April 23, 1835. His father was a Methodist preacher — a 
missionary in the Lake Superior region among the Indians, 
where Edwin lived until he was fifteen, when he came 
down into the settlements to attend school at Albion. At 
that time he knew but little of the English language, having 



COMPANY K, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 145 

been accustomed to speak in the Indian tongue. He re- 
mained at school two or three years, when he returned 
home to see his mother, who was then low with consump- 
tion. After the death of his mother he went with his 
father to Vermont, where his father shortly died. Barnum 
was married at the age of 20, and came to Des Moines, 
Iowa, in the year 1856, where he resided when the war 
broke out. After making it a subject of special prayer for 
a long time (says his mother-in-law, Mrs. Greene), asking 
God to show him his duty, he seemed to be impressed 
that he must leave his wife and children and go into the 
service. " It is my duty," said he, " as a man and a Chris- 
tian, to go forward and serve my country." He and his 
wife were members of the Conoregational Church at Des 
Moines, and among the earliest. Barnum lived a consistent 
Christian at home and in the army. When the company 
was marching along in the dark, the morning before he 
was killed, one of the men chanced to stumble and fall, 
when some members of the company used profane lan- 
guage. Barnum chided them for it, saying " Such language 
is wrong on any occasion, and especially at this time ; for 
we know not at what moment any of us may be killed." 
" Why," said one, " do you think, Barnum, that you are 
going to be killed ? " "I do not know," said he, " I felt a 
load at my heart all last night ; I believe something dread- 
ful will happen." 

JAMES ALFRED MOTT, 
OLIVER PERRY IvELLEY, 
HIRAM D. CORNISH. 

''MiLLiKEN's Bend, La., Jan. 23, 1863. 

" My dear Sister, — We have been in two hard battles 

since I wrote you last. I came through both safe, but 

many of our men were killed. One of the fights Avas at 

Vicksburg. Theie we got whipped. Our regiment was in 

10 



146 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

the hottest of the fi^ht — lost one hundred and twentv men 

in thirty minutes. Then we went to Arkansas Post, and 

we whipped the Rebels, and made them surrender. We 

got five thousand prisoners, eight thousand stand of arms 

and twenty pieces of artillery, a great deal of ammunition, 

and about fifty wagons and teams. We have left Arkansas 

Post, and are now down the river about twenty-five miles 

from Vicksburg. We expect to try them again as soon as 

the river rises 

"JAMES A. MOTT." 

" Camp on the Battle-Field, Paulding Co, Ga., ) 

June 27, 1864. i 

" My dear Father and Mother, — I was left sick at 
Nashville with a fever on our return, but I overtook the 
regiment about a week ago. We have been engaged for 
the last four days. But little had been accomplished until 
yesterday ; the Rebels made an assault on our works and 
were repulsed with heavy loss. They advanced on our 
lines three colunms deep. We were ordered to reinforce 
the right, which the Rebels were trying to turn. We had to 
advance about a mile on double-quick ; but when we 
reached the scene of action the Rebels were in full retreat. ' 
Our loss in the regiment is two killed and four wounded. 
One of the prisoners being asked what their intention was 
in making the charge, replied, that they had heard that 
the 15th Army Corps had never been whipped, and they 
thought that they would try it a round. Since I have been 
writing one of our lieutenants has been wounded in the 
arm. When the fight is over I will write you again. 

" OLIVER P. KELLEY." 

When the fight was over, Kelley was dead. 

" Camp Union, Feb. 18, 1862. 
" My dear Friend, — We are on a march to Spring- 
field. It is ten davs since we left Ro]la. We are now at 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 147 

Lebanon, sixty-five miles from Rolla. There are about 
twelve thousand men here. We intend an advance on 
Springfield. We will whip Price this time or have a fine 

fig^t for it The boys from Walnut Creek are all 

^^1^ It seems that the cowardly boys at home 

have their own time now. They get married since the 
boys of any account have left. I think the girls that marry 
such fellows are not much themselves. If they want men 
brave enough to go with them to milk the cows they will 
have to wait till the war is over ; for I do not think that 
they can get such men now in Iowa. For my part I 
intend to fight for my country and its flag as long as I live. 
My forefathers fought to establish this government, and 
now I will fight to maintain it. It is dearer to me than my 
own life. It makes me glad every time I see its flag, and 
I see it every day. 

" HIRAM D. CORNISH." 

These three boys all went from under the same roof, and 
were all killed in battle. The first named was a son of 
J. H. Mott, of Walnut Township, Polk County, Iowa. The 
second was his step-son ; and the third a young man who 
made his home with Mr. Mott's family. True represen- 
tatives of the American soldier, ever faithful to duty, 
inspired by a living love of country, they were fond of 
being distinguished among the bravest of the brave. Says 
a comrade : " They were noble boys, among the most 
generous boys that I have ever met ; " and, says he, " brav- 
ery and generosity ever go together." Their captain (H. 
H. Griffiths) says : " An army of such could whip the 
world. Among the first to volunteer in a skirmish, none 
went further than they nor stayed longer in dano-erous 
places." 

While the boys were getting ready to start away after 
they had enlisted, Mr. Mott said : " Boys, never turn your 
backs to the enemy ! " " Father," was the reply, •' we will 



148 . AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

never be shot in the back." Like a true mother, Mrs. Mott 
was loth to part with her sons. Said they to her, " We 
have as good right to fight for our country as anybody. If 
we were to do as you say, mother, the enemy would come 
to our doors and take us right here." But they loved their 
mother dearly. When Perry was a child, after his father 
died, he put his little arms around his mother's neck 
while she was weeping, and said, " Mother, don't cry ; I 
will soon be a man, and I will take care of you." He was 
ever constant in his attentions to her, and he did not part 
from her to serve his country until he had gained her con- 
sent. 

Hiram D. Cornish was born in the State of New York. 
I know but little of his history. He was a true man. " For 
my iKirt lintend to jight for my country and its flag as long 
as I live'' Noble and prophetic words ! " My forefathers 
fought to establish this government, and noiv I ivill fight to 
maintain it. It is dearer to me than my own life. It mahes 
me feel glad every time I see its flag, and I see it every day'' 

More heroic sentiments were never uttered. This is the 
American farmer boy who has left the plough and shouldered 
his musket to defend the flag of his country. Cornish was 
the first of the three to fall. I have the following account 
of his death from the lips of a comrade who witnessed his 
fall : — 

" Hiram Cornish was killed at the first battle of Pea 
Ridge. He and Barnum, of Des Moines, were both killed 
side by side — one with a minie and the other with a can- 
non-ball. Cornish was killed first. I saw him drop his 
gun and place his hand upon his side. I saw Barnum's 
lips move as if he was talking to Cornish. There was 
such a noise of battle you could not hear men speak any 
distance. Cornish laid down and died. Barnum was 
killed by a six-pound ball striking him in the right breast. 
Cornish, before the soldiers knew that they were going into 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 149 

battle, had a presentiment that he would be killed. He 
gave his account book and some other trifles to a sick 
soldier, and told him to take care of them, as he did not 
expect to ever have any more use for them. While the boys 
were going into ranks, he pulled off his overcoat and told a 
comrade to put it in the tent, as he did not expect to ever 
use it again. He did not speak this from any sense of fear, 
for he was a brave man." 

Captain Griffiths says : " H. D. Cornish was shot at the 
same time and place with Barnum. Their bodies lay 
within five feet of one another. He was a good and faith- 
ful boy, brave to a fault, and thought himself a better man 
and a better shot than any butternut living. With many 
others, earnest, brave, and true as he, he fell a victim to the 
storm of battle." Killed March 7, 1862, aged 23. 

Mott was the next to fall. It was at the siege of Vicks- 
burg. He was in advance of his comrades, behind a stump, 
sharp-shooting ; his leg was out in view of the enemy, and 
was taken as a mark by a sharp-shooter, who put a ball 
through it. He said to the boys behind him, '' I am shot." 
His brother Kelley climbed over the works in face of the 
fire of sharp-shooters, and carried Mott back into the ditch. 
His brother wrote home, " Alfred was wounded on the 
morning of the 20th of May. He was struck by a minie 
ball about three inches below the knee, passing between 
the bones without doing much injury." 

But the intense heat of the weather rendered even a 
slight wound mortal. There is now hanging on the wall in 
his father's house a tablet containing these words : — 

JAMES A. MOTT, 

OF THE 4TH IOWA INFANTRY, 

DIED AT VICKSBURG, JUNE 23D, 1863, 

FROM A WOUND RECEIVED 

MAY 20TH, 1863. 



150 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

James A. Mott was born in Ohio. He died at the age 
of nineteen. Captain Griffiths says : " A boy in years, but 
a man in determination. When first in the service he had 
a long painful illness. He was one who thought that there 
were worSe things to suffer than sickness and death, and 
gave his young life for his country's cause." 

Only one of three, who left Mr. Mott's house, now re- 
mained — Oliver P. Kelley. He reenlisted as a veteran, 
after havinof served with his recriment until the winter of 
1863. Having spent a few weeks at home on furlough, he 
returned to his regiment. Time sped on, and brought the 

following : — 

" Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., June 30, 1864. 

"JOSEPH MOTT, Esq.: 

" Dear Sir, — It is with pain that I announce to you 
the death of your son Perry, on the morning of the 28th, 
from a wound received on the afternoon of the 27th. I 
will briefly relate the circumstances connected with his 
death. On the night of the 26th we relieved a division of 
the 14th Corps, occupying their works, which were ad- 
vanced close to the enemy's. The Rebels have the advan- 
tage in position, being posted above us on the mountain 
side, so that they can look down into our works. Their 
sharp-shooters fire at every man who ventures out of 
the pits during daylight. A few moments before Perry 
was wounded I heard him complain of the rifle-pits being 
so hot that he could not stay in them ; but I did not think 
he would oro out, and thouQ-ht no more of what he had said 
until I heard him cry out when he was struck. He had 
left the pits and gone a short distance to the rear, and 
seated himself under the shade of a tree. He had not 
been long there when the ball struck him, entering his 
right side and passing through his bowels. He was im- 
mediately carried to the rear and sent to the hospital, four 
miles from here, where he died at eight o'clock the next 

"FELIX T. GANDY, Sergeant Company £." 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 151 

In his mother's Bible, in the beautiful handwriting of 
his father, is recorded : " Oliver Perry Kelley, son of 
Dennis Kelley and his wife Elizabeth, was born on the 
20th day of November, 1842." He was born in Ohio. 

These boys were all buried without coffins, as the soldier 
is buried, wrapped in their blankets, and laid in the silent 
earth, — 

" To mix forever with the elements." 



JEPHTHA W. BELL 

Was wounded at Pea Ridge, and died of wounds. " Shot," 
says Captain Griffiths, " Friday afternoon, March 7th, 
1862, in the left side below the nipple. He walked off the 
field, and died Sunday morning, March 9th — a brave and 
noble soldier. Was acting adjutant's clerk, and had been 
for months ; rode his horse through the battle of Friday 
unharmed, though greatly exposed, showing the greatest 
courage, far beyond some officers of high rank. Towards 
night he gave his horse to Colonel (afterwards General) 
Dodge, whose horse had been killed, and soon after Bell 
was fatally shot. I saw him at midnight, Friday, in hospital. 
I helped him all I could. He said he was going to die, 
and was only sorry he could not live longer to serve his 
country. We buried him with Barnum and Cornish on 
the ground where he was shot, and where the great struggle 
of the battle had taken place ; making a rough box of 
boards for him, and firing a salute over him, we left him to 
his repose in a soldier's honored grave." 

Jephtha W. Bell enlisted at Des Moines, July 15th, 1861, 
giving as his place of residence, Polk County. I have not 
been able to find any of his relatives. He was twenty-six 
years old, a native of Indiana. Whether he was married, 
or had a family, I know not. 



152 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

SAMUEL H. JAMES, ; 

JOHN C. JAMES, 

Were brothers. Captain H. H. Griffiths says : — 

" Samuel H. James was wounded March 8th, 1862, and 
left on the field. He died on the 11th day of March, 
with patriotic words on his lips. He wished that he had a 
thousand lives to give for his country. None better or 
braver than he. His father, an infirm old man, now lives 
in Des Moines. John C. James lost his health in the army. 
He was discharged June 18th, 1862, at St. Louis, Mo. 
After two years of painful illness he died in Des Moines, 
leaving three or four children (who are motherless) orphans 
indeed. They are now at the Orphans' Home at Daven- 
port, Iowa." 

These brothers v/ere natives of Indiana. John C. James 
died at the age of thirty-six, and Samuel H. twenty-five. 

HENRY A. BARRETT 

Was wounded March 7th, 1862, in the thigh severely, at 
Pea Ridge, and he died April 12th at Cassville, Mo., of 
wounds. He was born in the State of Maine. His place 
of residence at the time of his enlisting was Des Moines, 
according to the Adjutant-General's books, but I have not 
found any of his relatives. Captain Griffiths says of Bar- 
rett : " A splendid little boy ! When on the extreme 
point at Pea Ridge a rebel skirmisher near him called to 
him, ' Come out from behind that tree, you little Yank ! ' 
He replied sharply and made his escape. Later in the 
day he was shot through the hips. He was only fifteen 
years old, and a slight spindling boy ; but he had a brave 
and manly heart.' 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 153 

GIRARD M. C. CASE, 

A DRUMMER boy of the 4th Iowa, fifteen years old. The 
following is a copy of one of the letters to his mother, 

probably the last : — 

" Cassville, Mo., April 30, 1862. 

" Dear Mother, — I am well and in fine spirits. In- 
deed, I have been blest with the best of health the most of 
the time I have been in the service. I am twenty-five 
pounds heavier than I was when I was at home enjoying 
its comforts. There has be6n some excitement among the 
citizens here, on account of a gang of guerrillas. Their 
place of rendezvous is Neosho. Sallying forth in all direc- 
tions, they drive oflf the men from their homes and rob them 
of their property. They have committed some of the most 
shocking deeds of barbarity Christendom ever heard of. 
But we are beginning to teach them that this state of 
affairs cannot be permitted longer. We have succeeded in 
capturing fifty-seven of the party. Our troops killed and 
wounded about thirty of them, while we lost but nine killed 
and wounded. 

" We are encamped on a small stream near town, by the 
name of Flat Creek. Since we have been here we have 
had excellent times — light work and plenty to eat. We 
have had some excellent vinegar pies, and some pies made 
of whortleberries. We have light bread nearly all the time, 
and sweet cakes occasionally. Our captain is Provost-Mar- 
shal of the place." 

Captain H. II. Griffiths gives me the following account 
of the manner of young Case's death : — 

" He was shot from an old rusty pepper-box pistol found 
by him in a manure heap. The pistol was in the hands of 

Ben , a comrade. The two boys were playing with 

the pistol, supposing it to be entirely harmless, when its 



154 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

unexpected discharge brought poor Girard down. The 
whole thing was entirely accidental. Poor Ben suffered 
in body and mind. In body by lying some weeks in the 
guard-house, and in mind at the fatal calamity. Girard 
was a good and faithful boy. At Pea Ridge he exposed 
himself freely, carrying off the wounded," etc. 

The following is an account of the accident transmitted 
to Girard's mother shortly after this soldier's death : — 

" Girard M. C. Case died at Cassville, Mo., on the 24th 
day of May, 1862. Death caused by accidental discharge 
of a pistol in the hands of one of his fellow-soldiers. The 
charge entered the pit of his stomach. The wound was 
considered dangerous, but not fatal. He lived three weeks 
after he was wounded." 

Mr. Larned Case, father of this boy, came with his family 
to Polk County in the spring of 1847. He took a claim on 
Agency Prairie, where he lived until the time of his death, 
which occurred in 1849. Girard was born in Vermilion 
County, 111., on the 4th day of January, 1846. He was in 
the army about ten months — enlisted July 15th, 1861. He 
was a good boy, and kind to his mother. All who knew 
him praise him. 

KEUBEN P. BILLSLAND, 

Born in Fountain County, Ind., Sept. 28, 1835, had re- 
sided in Polk County, Iowa, about seven years previous to 
his enlisting. Just at the breaking out of the war he was 
in the mountains, but returned home and enlisted in Com- 
pany E, 4th Iowa Infantry, Nov. 18, 1861. He participated 
with his regiment in all of its marches in Missouri, in the 
battle of Pea Pidge (Ark.), and marched with it to Helena. 
He says, writing to his brother Isaac, a resident of Polk 
County : — 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 155 

" Camp near Helena, Sej)L 3, 1862. 
" Dear Brother, — I will try to let you know how sol- 
diering goes by this time. I have stood up to it well until 
we got to this camp. It has been about a month since I 
was taken sick, and have not done anything since. To-day 
I am going to try to do duty again. I am weak yet, but 
feel well otherwise. I was pretty bad off at one time, but 
did not say much about it." .... 

This soldier died January 19, 1863, on board of the hos- 
pital boat, Di Vernon, near Helena, Ark., of disease. 
He was a quiet, steady, and dutiful soldier. 

His brothers Isaac and James were also soldiers in the 
Union army. James was fifteen years a resident of Iowa ; 
went to Indiana on a visit and enlisted in the 63d Indiana 
Vols., and served till the end of the war; was mustered 
out, and, after he reached home, died of disease. Isaac was 
a member of the loth Indiana. 

WILLIAM PRITCHAKD 

Enlisted in Co. E, 4th Iowa Infantry, July 15, 1861 ; 
native of Ohio; age 27; died December 1, 1862, at Hele- 
na, Ark., of disease, having served one year and five 
months. I have not found any of his relatives. A good 
soldier, his comrades say. He is accredited to Polk County. 

GEORGE GENTLE. 

" A GOOD soldier," says Captain Griffiths ; " he died a pris- 
oner at Andersonville." He was wounded March 7, 1862, 
at Pea Ridge, slightly in the chest. On the 14th of March, 
1864, he was captured by the Rebels at Claysville, Ala., 
and died Aug. 8, 1864, at Andersonville, Ga., of scorbutus, 
while a prisoner of war. July 1st, 1861, he first enlisted, 
and was mustered into United States service August 8, 
1861, just three years before he died. His grave is num- 
ber 5,505. An Englishman by birth ; came to Iowa when 



156 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

he was five years old ; was twenty-nine at the time of his 

death. His wife resided in Des Moines, while he was in 

the service. He left three children at home when he 

entered the army, but two of them preceded him to the 

grave. 

" Camp before Vicksburg, ) 
Jan. 31, 1863. 3 

" Mt dear Wife, — I received your letter bringing the 
sorrowful news of the death of our little boy. I would like 
to have seen him before he died. lie is now an angel 
high up in heaven, where, if we live holy lives, we shall 
meet him." 

Soon after the death of the father, the third child died 
also. 

Gentle was with the regdment in all of its battles and 
marches until he was captured. 

" Bridgeport, Jan. 9, 1863. 
" I have been in three battles since I last wrote to you. 
One on Lookout Mountain on the 24th, one on Mission 
Ridge on the 2.5th, and one on White Oak Mountain on 
the 27th. I went through them all without receiving a shot, 
and I am thanldful." 

A kind husband and father, a patriotic soldier — he was 
ever orrateful to his Maker for the blessinos of life and 
health. 

"Camp near Clear Creek (12 miles E. of Vicksburg), ) 

July 31, 1863. ) 

" I enjoy good health for which I am thankful to God. 
We started on the 4th of July for Jackson, Miss., and had 
another battle there, and after eight days' fighting, drove 
the enemy from that place and followed him to Brandon, 
14 miles east of Jackson." 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 157 

BENJAMIN CROW, 
JOHN LEWIS CROW. 

Mr. John Crow, of Walnut Township, had four sons in 
the army — two of whom, Benjamin and John Lewis, lost 
their lives. 

Benjamin was born on the 22d of July, 1839, in Warren 
County, Indiana. He was married on the 20th day of 
October, 1859, in Polk County, Iowa ; became a member 
of Company E, 4th Iowa, on the 4th day of July, 18G1, and 
died in Anderson ville prison, Ga., on the 10th day of Sep- 
tember, 1864. Picture to yourself, reader, one in a filthy 
pen, literally rotten with scurvy, covered with filth and ver- 
min, starving for want of proper food, with no shelter but 
the heavens, no bed but the bare earth, no covering but a 
few tattered garments, without human sympathy, dying like 
a beast on the common — it were a true picture of Benjamin 
Crow in his last moments. He lay all night in a rain-storm 
just before he died, on the bare ground, in mud and water. 
When he attempted, in his sickness, to eat the morsel made 
of corn and cobs ground together into meal and boiled into 
mush, he was often obliged to take from his mouth teeth 
which had dropped out of their sockets, his gums being 
rotted away. 

When Benjamin Crow was captured, he had one hundred 
and sixty dollars in money with him. He managed to save 
seventy-five dollars of this by hiding it in his sleeve. This 
sum might have saved him, for he could buy some provis- 
ions wdth money ; but he was of so kind a disposition that 
he must needs share with his suffering comrades as long as 
he had a cent. He was a very benevolent man, and never 
could see any suffering without affording relief if witliin his 
power. His " booth " (for he had made out of a handful 
of hay brought into his prison by negroes, a little " tent," 
as he called it, to shelter him from the sun) was the resort 
of all the despondent. They came to hear Ben talk, and 



158 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

to be cheered. He never gave up his cheerfulness while 
health remained to him, but after he fell sick in prison, he 
lost hope. 

He and a number of others of his company were cap- 
tured at Claysville, Ala., while guarding Gunter's Ferry. 
He was taken first to Libby prison, and then to Anderson- 
ville. He was captured March 14, 1864. 

Benjamin Crow had poor health much of the time in the 
service. It was eleven months after the regiment was or- 
ganized before the men drew any clothing. Ben travelled 
with the regiment through the whole campaign, from Eolla 
to Helena, 400 miles, being engaged with his company in 
the battle of Pea Ridge, sick with ague and almost naked. 
From Helena he was sent to Keokuk to the hospital, where 
his father visited him. When he entered the service, he 
weighed one hundred and forty-eight pounds ; when he 
reached Keokuk he weighed less than one hundred pounds. 
He remained in hospital from October till April ; then he 
returned to his regiment. While sick, he was offered a dis- 
charge, but he would not accept it. He wrote in his absence 
many letters to his home — oftenest to his wife, whom he 
dearly loved, and to whom he showed the greatest kind- 
ness, sending her many presents as tokens of his faithful- 
ness and love, remembering her always in his letters. He 
says to his wife, in a letter addressed to his mother : — 

"Tempy, I received your letter, and was glad to hear 
that you got the present I sent you. I want you to write 
often." 

The unfaithfulness of his wife, of which he was informed 
in his absence, was the cause of more grief to him than all 
of his sufferings of sickness and imprisonment. He refused 
to believe, for a long time, the reports of her infidelity, but 
when at last convinced of their truthfulness, his grief knew 
no bounds. Of this, however, I will say no more. 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 159 

Benjamin Crow was a man of good education and re- 
markable memory. He " honored his father and mother." 
His mother says he never spoke a cross word to her in his 
life. He loved his home dearly. Highly esteemed by all 
who knew him, upright in his dealings, though not a mem- 
ber of any religious denomination, yet a man of good 
character. 

John Lewis Crow, was born in Warren County, Indiana, 
April 24th, 1848 ; enlisted in Company E, 4th Iowa, April 
1864, being then about fifteen years old. He went with 
the consent of his father, but his mother opposed his going. 
The veterans were at home on furlough, and John must 
so to the front with them. His brother Edward offered to 
take his place, giving him all the bounty money, but John 
would not consent to it. " I would not," said he, " take 
one thousand dollars for the privilege of going." On ar- 
riving at the front he wrote : — 

" We started the Rebels from Chattanooga, and chased 
them to Jonesboro'. A great many of them are desert- 
ing and coming into our lines. Another round like the one 
we have given them will be as much as they will want." 

He says : — 

" July 23, 1864. 

" We have been fiorhtinof ever since our brioade made a 
charge yesterday, and drove the Rebels. This morning I 
went over the field, and the butternuts lay around as thick 
as hail. We are about two miles from Atlanta, where we 
expect to go into camp and rest awhile." 

John was taken sick, and lay sick all winter. In Febru- 
ary, he got a furlough to return home, and wrote his brother 
to meet him at Nashville. He bade good-by to his com- 
rades, telling them that he was going home to be nursed by 



160 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

his mother. A kind-hearted doctor took charge of him 
and nursed liim with great care, giving him a good, soft, 
spring mattress to lie on while on the train. John said he 
felt better after he started than he had ever felt before in 
his life. The doctor thought this a bad symptom, as it 
proved to be ; for John grew worse, and died before the 
train reached Nashville. When his father reached Nash- 
ville, John was buried. Mr. Crow went into the cemetery ; 
taking the graves tier by tier, he searched for his son's. At 
last he found a board on which was written : — 

"JOHN L. CROW, 

COMPANY E, 4TH IOWA, 

DIED AT NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, 

FEBRUARY 26, 1865. 

No. of Grave, 12,297." 

John was not yet sixteen when he died. He had been 
in all of the marches and battles of his regiment, from the 
time it started with Sherman on his great campaign against 
Atlanta, until the capture of that city — a good and brave 
boy. His father says : " I would rather all my sons were 
buried, having died fighting for their country, than that one 
of them should ever go to jail for crime." 

ROBERT S. YOIINT. 
» 

One of the purest and best young men that ever enlisted 
to defend the flag of his country, a son of one of the early 
settlers of Polk County, and brother-in-law of Dr. W. H. 
Ward, of this city, he enlisted under Captain H. H. Grif- 
fiths, in Company E, 4th Iowa Infantry, July 15, 1861, and 
was discharged September 14, 1863, at Black River, Miss., 
for disability. The campaign against Vicksburg, and con- 
sequent exposure and hard marching, had completely de- 
stroyed his naturally weak constitution ; for Robert was of 
very light build, and slender and delicate, but he had a big 
heart — a truly noble boy. It was his pride that he had not, 



r 
COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTKY VOLS. 161 

during his term of service, been tempted to utter an oath. 
He strove to be perfect in his morals, and exemplary in 
deportment. He was always cheerful, and (says Captain 
Griffiths) " he was brave beyond his years, ever undaunted 
in the midst of danger." He was glad that Providence 
had made it possible for him to be a soldier to defend his 
country. He says in one of his letters, " Who would be a 
woman, and have to stay at home ? " The following (which 
is a fair sample of a soldier's letter) speaks of the hard- 
ships of the campaign and loss of rest, and the exposure 
that led finally to his discharge on account of failing health : 

" Camp on Black River, Aug. 1, 1863. 

" My dear Sister, — I received a letter from you dated 
July 5th, and another this morning dated the 22d of July, 
which was delivered to me by Dr. Beach. He purchased 
a ' Waverley IVIagazine ' and ' Atlantic Monthly ' with the 
money which was sent by him. I am ever thankful for 
such favors. Reading material is always acceptable to me. 

" I am enjoying good health, with the exception of the 
chills and fever occasionally. While on the march to Jack- 
son, r stood it as well as any of the boys. There were a 
good many killed by sun-stroke on the road, but none out 
of the 4th Iowa. The night we entered Clinton, I thought, 
was nearly as hard a night as I ever spent since I have 
been a soldier. We started from Bolton Station at four 
o'clock, p. M., and a little after dark (there having been 
heavy cannonading on the road to our right all the evening 
by the 13th Army Corps) the two advance companies were 
thrown out as skirmishers, with the remainder of the regi- 
ment to support them, marching in line of battle across a 
large jjlantation, leaving the road to our left. We marched 
about a mile in this manner, when we came into the main 
road in front of us. But our skirmishers having gone too 
far to the left, we passed to the right of them and lost 
them entirely. Our company now took the skirmishers' 
11 



162 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

place, and we proceeded forward towards Clinton. When 
within about a quarter of a mile of the town the rebel 
pickets fired upon our company, but they did not happen 
to hit any of us. After a little delay, we moved on into 
Clinton, and camped about a quarter of a mile on the 
other side, it being two o'clock, a. m. I had to go on picket 
then,, and stand one hour — the sleepiest hour I ever spent 
while on guard. My strength was exhausted, and I did not 
get an hour's sleep the night before, it having rained all 
night as hard as it could pour. I give this as a specimen 
of a day's soldiering. Yet we are in camp now, and expect 
to enjoy ease and comfort for a month or two at least. The 
soldiers are being furloughed, but I doubt whether I will 
get one, for I am not going to beg and tease officers for 
one if T never get to go home. 

" I expect Jasper tiargis will deliver this into your hands. 
If you send anything by Jasper, let it be a can of fresh 
butter and a can or two of preserves. 

" Your affectionate brother, 

"R. S. YOUNT." 

Eobert S. Yount was born in Tippecanoe County, Indi- 
ana, April 16, 1843 ; he came to this county in 1849. When 
the war began he was making his home with Dr. Ward, 
who then lived in Carlisle, Warren County. Dr. Ward, 
shortly after the beginning of the war, moved to Des 
Moines, and when Robert returned, he made his home with 
his brother-in-law in this city, and at his death was buried 
in the cemetery here. His death occurred Sept. 29, 1864. 
He greatly regretted during his sickness that he could not 
be with his comrades at the front, and said that if health 
returned to him he would again join the old company. He 
delighted much in music. His favorite song, while he lay 
sick, was the one with the chorus, — 

" Then wrap the flag around me, boys; 
To die 'twere far more sweet, 



COMPANY E, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 163 

"With Freedom's starry emblem, boys, 
To be my winding sheet." 

He united with the Methodist Episcopal Church a short 
time before he entered the army. Mrs. Ward says that 
" he was always disposed to be religious, and," she adds, 
" he was a kind and affectionate brother." " A good and 
faithful soldier — very moral, upright, trustworthy, and 
brave," is the testimony of his comrades. 

His brother, Enoch J. Yount, was a member of Com- 
pany D, 2d Iowa Infantry, from which he was discharged 
for disability after having served seventeen months. When 
he had recovered his health he enlisted in Company M, 
8th Iowa Cavalry, and continued in the service during the 
war. 

CORNELIUS McKEAN, 

Accredited to Polk County, a native of Missouri, twenty- 
six years of age, enlisted Nov. 18, 1861, as a recruit in 
Company E, 4th Iowa, and died Nov. 26, 1864, at Louis- 
ville, Ky., of disease. 

THOMAS COSTELLO, 

Was captured at Gaines' Landing, Missouri, and held a 
prisoner by the Rebels four months, and paroled in Texas. 
Not being able to return to his regiment he joined the 1st 
Texas Union Cavalry, and remained with that regiment, 
reporting to his company by letter. At the first oppor- 
tunity he started to rejoin his regiment, and, it is supposed, 
died somewhere on the way, as he has never been heard 
from since. He was a native of Ireland, and came to this 
country with his parents when he was five years old. 



COMPANY C, SEVENTH IOWA VOLUNTEERS. 

" LAWRENCE A. GREGG. 
IN MEMOEY OF 
LAWRENCE ASHTON GREGG, 

OF THE 
SEVENTH IOWA INFANTRY, 

Who died 

At Belmont, Missouri, 

November 7th, 1861. 

A Brave and Gallant Soldier, and a 

True Patriot. 

' His toils are past ; his work is done, 

And he is fully blest; 
He fought the fight; the victory won, 
And entered into rest.' " 

A RECORD like the above, framed under a glass, is all 
that remains to preserve a recollection of thousands of 
good men slain by the wicked Rebellion. Lawrence A. 
Gregg was a most promising young man. When he was 
dying he said to a comrade standing by, " I do not regret 
the step I have taken ; I am dying for my country." He 
was well educated, and self-educated ; he taught school and 
attended school alternately. He had just finished a course 
of law, and was about to enter upon the practice of his pro- 
fession, when the war broke out and he enlisted. In the 
battle of Belmont he was shot through the thigh, and left 
on the field. The Rebels carried him, with other prisoners, 
to Columbus, Ky., where his leg was amputated, from the 



COMPAxVY C, SEVENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 165 

effects of which he died. He was born in Kentucky; died 
at the age of twenty-two. A purer, truer, nobler young 
man never lived. 

The following is a copy of the only letter written by him 
from the army that has been placed in my hands. He 
wrote beautifully — like coper-plate: — 

" Bird's Point, Mo., Oct. 21, 1861. 
" When our company was accepted I was teaching school. 
I closed my school, and collected what money I could, and 
in three days was in Burlington drilling as a soldier. We 
stayed about two weeks in Burlington, and then came to 
St. Louis ; from St. Louis to the Arsenal ; from the Arsenal 
to Jefferson Barracks ; from the Barracks we went back to 
St. Louis, where we got our arms ; from there we went 
to Pilot Knob and Ironton ; from there across to Cape 
Girardeau ; from there to Fort Holt in Kentucky, opposite 
Cairo ; from Fort Holt we went down the Mississippi to 
Camp Crittenden ; from there back to Fort Jefferson ; from 
Fort Jefferson we crossed the river to Norfolk, Mo. ; from 
Norfolk we came up to Bird's Point ; then back to Nor- 
folk ; then to Bird's Point again. We have been here three 
weeks. Our Colonefs name is Lauman. I am postmaster 
of the regiment, and have a tent to myself. .... I 
wish this war was ended so that I could get home ; but I 
do not want to return till the war is over. It is a hard, 

wretched life I write a letter every week for 

the ' Oscaloosa Herald.' If you can get that paper, you 
will see by my letters some of the particulars of my life in 
the army." .... 



COMPANY F, SEVENTH IOWA VOLUNTEERS. 

JOSEPH BEDFOED EVANS 

Was killed in the battle of Belmont, Nov. 7, 1861. On 
the od of November he wrote : — 

" I would be very glad to see peace made, if it could be 
done on honorable terms. You must not judge from this 
that I am tired of the war. I am ready to fight it through. 
If any of the folks ask what took me to the war, tell them 
true patriotism — love of country, and love of peace. I 
will try to live and fight for my country, so as not to dis- 
honor it or my friends." 

Evans was a brother-in-law to Newton Lamb, who lives 
on Agency Prairie, three miles from Des Moines, and one 
of the early settlers of Polk County. Evans made his 
home at Mr. Lamb's. He was born in Wayne County, 
Indiana, but he had lived in Iowa since he was two years 
old. Left an orphan when a little boy, he had learned to 
rely upon himself; had acquired a good education, and had 
taught a term of school. He had been a member in good 
standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church about four 
years, when he entered the army. Those who knew him 
speak highly of his moral and religious character. He was 
but nineteen when he fell. 



TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLUNTEERS. 

HISTORY. 

The Tenth Iowa contained one full company (A) from 
Polk County, and parts of five other companies from the 
same county. This regiment performed as much hard ser- 
vice as any other regiment in the army. It travelled not 
less than ten thousand miles during the war — marching: 
on foot much of the time ; served in eleven States of the 
Confederacy ; and took part in eighteen engagements, be- 
sides many skirmishes. The casualties of the regiment in 
battle were fifty-seven killed ; two hundred and forty-two 
Wounded ; died of wounds, thirty-nine ; discharged for 
wounds, nineteen. The regiment was discharged at Little 
Rock, Ark., August 15, 1865, having returned from the 
" March to the Sea " with Sherman, via Columbia, Raleigh, 
and Washington City — a veteran regiment. It had partici- 
pated in the capture of New Madrid and Island No. 10 ; 
siege of Fort Wright ; siege of Corinth ; battles of Corinth 
and luka ; siege of Vicksburg, etc., etc. The names of 
members of this regiment — citizens of Polk County — 
who received commissions from the Governor of the State 
of Iowa, as commanding officers of companies and regi- 
ment, and as chaplains and surgeons, are as follows : 
Nathaniel McCalla, John C. Bennett, Robert Lusby, Wil- 
liam P. Davis, John 0. Skinner, Ebenezer E. Howe, 
C. J. Clark, John G. Hanna, Hezekiah Van Dorn, William 
G. Swim, Josiah Hopkins, William P. Meekins, Jonathan 
J. Wright, George M. Bentley, Steele Kenworthy, John W. 
Wright, Julien Bausman, Wm Rahm, Wm. C. Baylies. 



COMPANY A, TENTH IOWA VOLUNTEERS. 

WILLIAM SPENCER, 

Born in Virginia, Nov. 1, 1844, enlisted in 10th Iowa, 
Company A, Aug. 21, 1861, and died in hospital at Cape 
Girardeau, of measles, Nov. 23, 1861. "A good boy," says 
Colonel McCalla. His home had been with his parents in 
Polk City, Polk County, Iowa, since 1851. Though only 
seventeen years old when the war began, he seemed to 
realize fully the condition of his country, and with a pat- 
riotism above his years, he left a pleasant home to join in 
its defense. He was highly respected by all who knew 
him. His uncle, Thomas A. Spencer, a member of the 
same company, reenlisting as a veteran, served through the 
war. 

CASWELL MURRAY. 

" A GOOD steady man, and a dutiful soldier," says Colonel 
McCalla. He was a kind husband and father, and a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Church. He served as a private in 
Company A, 10th Iowa Infantry. At Cape Girardeau, 
Mo., he was taken sick with measles. Recovering partially 
he went on a march with his regiment to Charleston, Mo. ; 
taking cold, he was granted a furlough to go home. When 
he arrived at Brooklyn, Iowa, he died, Feb. 10, 1862. His 
body was sent in a coffin to Newton, where his wife received 
his remains and conveyed them home for burial. He rests 
in the grave-yard at Hopkins' Grove, Polk County, Iowa. 
The " State Register" of that date has the following: — 



COMPANY A, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 169 

" Every little while the horrors of war are vividly brought 
home to us by the appearance of a coffin from the South, 
inclosing the body of a dead soldier. But a day or two 
since we had occasion to notice a circumstance of this char- 
acter. A bereaved wife met the coffin of her dead husband 
at Newton. Never will it be fully revealed until the light 
of eternity blaze on the melancholy theme, how many fond 
hearts have been shaken and riven by the desolating assault 
of war. Think of it ! A poor soldier who had forsaken all 
the endearments of home, and had taken his life in hand 
and marched with his comrades to aid in the deliverance 
of his country, is assailed by deadly disease. He longs to 
die at home in the bosom of his family, fie longs to greet 
once more the familiar faces around his own fireside. He 
prays that his aching head may receive once more the fond 
pressure of hands which were wont in other days to min- 
ister to his happiness. He must go home ! He rises from 
his sick cot, and in the care of sympathizing conn-ades, he 
makes haste to reach the place which is consecrated by 
many blessed memories. He summons all the energies of 
his decaying nature to the task before him. He travels 
the weary miles of his journey in the hope that he may not 
die before his failing ear drinks again the music of familiar 
voices at home. No pilgrim seeking the Holy Sepulchre, 
is more ardent than he in his weary pilgrimage. But wife 
and children will he see no more. At the time when, in 
rapt imagination, he sees, but a little distance in advance, 
the smoke curling from the chimney of his home, and sees 
the forms of loved ones crowding out to greet the dying 
soldier, the great wheels of his life stand still, and his body 
sinks into the repose of death. This is thy cruel deed, O 
War ! God grant that the time may soon come when these 
scenes which are so dark with the terrible curse of War, 
will have no recurrence ! " ' 

Murray was born in Scott County, Ky., July 4, 1827 



170 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

He had resided in Iowa since 1840 ; came te Polk County 
in 1848, and settled in Madison Township. He wrote 
many good letters to his wife and children while he was in 
the army, but they contain nothing of general interest. He 
died leaving a wife and six children. 

GIDEON FLETCHER, 
ISAAC FLETCHER. 

Born in Ireland, they had been living in Iowa about 
six years when the war commenced — in America, ten. 
Colonel McCalla says of Gideon, " He was a good boy ; " of 
Isaac, " He was a mighty good soldier — as good as you 
could find." 

Gideon enlisted on the 21st day of August, 1861, and 
served until April, 1862, when he returned home on sick 
leave. He died at the home of Mrs. Williams, his sister, 
near Polk City, May 26, 1862, " reconciled to God and to 
his fate." 

He writes from Bird's Point, Mo., to his brother Isaac, 
December 13, 1861 : — 

" I am not very well at this time. About half of the 
regiment are sick, and there are a great many deaths. A 
man is being buried while I am writing this letter. All 
that are able are busy at work on winter-quarters. You 
spoke of Rebs taking Bird's Point. I will just say that 
they never will take it. You wanted to know how I like 
camp life. I like it very well. You can use your pleasure 
about coming. I shall not advise you to come or stay." 



Isaac Fletcher enlisted Dec. 12, 1861. When the war 
began he was residing in Missouri, near Lexington. Her 
wrote August 23, 1861 : — 

" I was surprised to hear that Gideon had joined the 
army. If his regiment is coming to Missouri let me know. 



COMPANY A, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 171 

I do not know how soon we may all have to join. Fighting 
is going on all around us here." 

In writing of his brother's death, Isaac says : — 

''June 10, 1862. 
" I never thought of such a thing. I was in hopes to 
soon see him back again in the regiment ; but I hope the 
Lord has called him to a better place than this wicked 
world." 

Isaac Fletcher was with his regiment at the taking of 
New Madrid, at the battles of luka and Corinth, and the 
battles before Vicksburg, until he was killed at Champion 
Hills, May 16, 1863. He fell at the age of twenty-five, 
and was buried on the field of battle. Gideon died aged 
twenty-three. Isaac liked the service. He says in one of 
his letters : " The army is the place for every young man." 



EDWARD S. DINWIDDIE 

Was born in Hardin County, Ohio, November 4, 1838. He 
died of typhoid fever in hospital at Farmington, Missouri, 
July 19, 1862. His home was in Madison Township, Polk 
County, Iowa. He enlisted in Polk City, August 21, 1861, 
leaving behind him a young wife, to whom he had been 
married only two days. Edward had three brothers in the 
Union service — Clark, Lewis, and Reuben. Reuben lost his 
life. He belonged to a Wisconsin regiment. Edward, before 
he died, professed a reliance on the Saviour. He said, " I 
can see my way clearly." He was sick much of the time. In 
1862 he was offered a discharge, but he refused to accept 
it, saying "I have enlisted to fight for my country, and I 
am going to do it." I am informed by his friends that 
there never lived a young man about whom more good 
might be truthfully said. Colonel McCalla says, " He was 
a good soldier." 



172 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

GEORGE W. COUETNEY 

Enlisted from Jefferson Township, Polk County, leaving 
a comfortable home, a wife, and six children ; was a native 
of Ohio ; died of disease in hospital, at Camp Clear Creek, 
Mo., August 4, 1862, aged thirty-seven. Was a good citizen, 
says Colonel McCalla, and he always did his duty promptly 
as a soldier. 

STEPHEN S. BEAN 

Was born in Maine, May, 1829 ; came to Iowa in 1855. 
He was a good scholar ; previous to his coming to Iowa he 
was engaged in teaching school near Earlville, 111. He 
enlisted as a private in Company A, 10th Iowa Infantry, at 
Polk City, where he resided, August 21, 1861. He left 
behind him, when he departed for the war, a wife and two 
children. Stephen S. Bean was a good citizen and a brave 
soldier. He was killed instantly by a ball from a musket 
of the enemy of his country, while he was bravely fighting 
at Champion Hills, May 16, 1863. He was buried on the 
field where he fell. At the merry Christinas times his little 
children shall receive no more the presents that a father's 
hand bestows. May it be no worse than this ! May they 
never want for bread and clothing, and the means of an 
education ; for had he lived his children would have re- 
ceived a good education. '' Bean," says McCalla, " was as 
good a soldier as ever took a musket to fight." 

EXTRACTS FROM THE JOURNAL OF STEPHEN S. BEAN. 

" I did not get this book soon enough to begin with the 
beginning of the campaign. I shall note some of the most 
remarkable events through which we have passed. 

" Left home in Iowa, Aug. 16, 1861 ; arrived at St. Louis 
Sept. 27 ; went from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau ; arrived 
at Bird's Point Nov. 14, 1861 ; left Bird's Point to take 
part in siege of New Madrid ; after the capture of New 



COMPANY A, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 173 

Madrid went down the river, and witnessed the bombard- 
ment of Fort Pillow. 

" April IQ, 1862. — No damage done us by the rebel 
shots ; don't know as our mortars have done them any 
harm. 

^^ April 17. — Ordered up the Tennessee River ; on the 
move. 

''April 21. — Passed Fort Henry last night ; arrived at 
Pittsburg Landing this evening." 

Here follows an account of the part taken by the regi- 
ment in the siege of Corinth. 

" May 30. — Half past two A. m., signals firing ; six A. m., 
the ball opened on the right in earnest ; ten a. m., Corinth 
evacuated. 

" June 17. — Four o'clock, A. m., cloudy and quite cool ; 
report at eight for grand guard. I dreamed of home last 
night and of my wife and children. 

" June 27: — Six o'clock, in line ready to march ; twelve 
M. have marched nine miles and have stopped to rest. 
Stopped about five hoiU'S, and then marched till dark ; 
moved about sixteen miles ; had blackberries for dinner. 

" June 28. — Half-past four a. m., bugle sounds for a for- 
ward march ; weather fine ; thunders in the west ; com- 
mences to rain. Marched twelve miles and camped about 
noon, and stayed the rest of the day. 

" June 30. — Morning pleasant ; started about eight 
o'clock ; passed Ripley at twelve m. 

''July 1. — Reveille at three o'clock, a.m.; orders to 
countermarch ; five o'clock, on the road ; half-past eleven, 
halt for dinner, six miles east of Ripley. Moved seven- 
teen miles to-day and camped for the night ; rained nearly 
all day. 

" July 2. — On the march at six o'clock ; marched six 



174 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

miles, then marched back two miles and camped ; eight 
o'clock, p. M., brigade under marching orders ; marched at 
nine p. m. ; continued marching until daylight, and then 
halted in Rienzi. 

" July 4. — Morning breaks beautiful ; national salute 
fired in Rienzi. 

" Sept. 18. — Did not march until near seven o'clock, 
A. M. ; are resting about two and a half miles on the road 
towards luka ; have not moved yet at five p. m., but expect 
to move soon, as we had orders to make coffee in half an 
hour. Later — camped here for the night; got a letter 
from home. 

" Sejit. 19. — Clear and cool. Marched soon after day- 
light ; when within five or six miles of luka w^e drove 
in the rebel pickets, and the 5th Iowa deployed as skir- 
mishers. We followed the enemy about four miles, and 
came upon them in force and had a very hard fight ; fought 
about two hours ; Rebels drove our men, and took from us 
some artillery ; w^e in turn drove them, and finally held the 
ground. We had two wounded and none killed in our 
company. 

" Sept. 20. — We are pursuing the retreating Rebels. 

''''Oct. 1. — Two o'clock, A.M., orders to be ready to 
march immediately ; everything packed ; at daylight march- 
ing towards Corinth ; evening, camped three miles from 
Corinth. It has been very warm and pleasant to-day. 
Soldiers gone towards Ripley from Corinth. 

'•'■Oct. 2. — Orders to have our knapsacks packed and 
ready to march immediately ; looks like rain this morning ; 
twelve M., orders to march to a camp near Corinth ; three 
o'clock, tents pitched in time to shelter us from the rain. 

" Oct. 3. — Two o'clock, A. M., orders to be ready to march 
at three. Price says he is coming to see us to-day. We 
have marched through Corinth, and are in brigade line of 



COMPANY A, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 175 

battle on north side of town ; 10th Iowa deployed as skir- 
mishers. 

" Oct. 4. — Cannonading began at daylight, and lasted 
nearly all the forenoon. We had a terrible hard battle this 
morning. Rebels took from us a battery which we retook 
again. Twelve ]\i., Rebels driven from the field ; six p. m., 
Rebels retreating. We have drawn two ddys' rations, and 
are ordered in pursuit. 

" Nov. 29. — Orders to be ready to march at five a. m. ; 
reveille at four ; moved at half-past seven ; passed Holly 
Springs at twelve m. ; moved seven miles south of the 
Springs ; cannonading in front ; camped at Lumpkin's 
Mills. 

''March 30, 1863. — On Yazoo Pass expedition. Cloudy 
and raining, with some sleet. Moved at eight a. m. ; en- 
tered the Tallahatchie at twelve m. 

''April 30. — Fighting at Grand Grulf yesterday. Cloudy 
and warm to-day. Marched at half-past six a. m. ; went 
ten miles and halted to rest ; passed through a very pretty 
country ; camped two miles from the river in a large corn- 
field." 

(Last entry made in his journal.) 

JOHN BAKER 

Enlisted at Polk City as a private, August 21, 1861 — an 
Englishman by birth. He was wounded May 22, 1863, in 
the charge on the works at Vicksburg, a grape-shot break- 
ing his left leg, which was afterwards amputated, and re- 
sulted in his death at Memphis, Tenn., June 6, 1863, aged 
thirty-two. He had no relatives in America. He was a 
good soldier, a good citizen, and a man of good morals. 
His residence was Saylor Township. 



176 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

JOHN BARD 

Enlisted from a sense of religious duty, at the age of 
forty-two, leaving at home a wife and a large family of 
children. George, his son, enlisted August 21, 1861 ; the 
father, September 17, 1862. 

John Bard had been for a number of years a conscientious 
Abolitionist, and when the war began he saw in the triumph 
of the Union cause the final extinguishment of slavery. He 
therefore felt it to be his duty as a consistent Christian to 
go forward and fight, to help bring about this great end. 
Colonel McCalla says of Bard : — 

" He was a good man — a very religious man ; one of 
the most conscientious men that ever went to war. He 
went as a Christian to fight, and not as a politician." 

He was wounded in the charge before Yicksburg, May 
22, 1863, by a musket-ball striking him in the leg. He 
died of his wound August 6, 1863, and was buried on a hill 
near Vicksburg. He told a comrade to say to Mrs. B. : — 

"Tell her, in my name, to bring my children up in 
fear of Him who has promised to be a father to the father- 
less, and the widow's God." He said to his son George : 
" I have lived to see that which my heart desired, the ' op- 
pressed go free' " Born in Ohio, June 14, 1819, he had re- 
sided on his farm in Pierce's Grove, Polk County, Iowa, 
since the year 1852. 

JAMES LEWIS 
Enlisted August 21, 1861, aged 41 years, a native of 
Indiana. His home is marked " Polk County " in the 
Adjutant- General's Reports. I have not found any of his 
relatives. He died January 3, 1863, at Columbus, Ky., of 
typhoid fever. Since writing the above I learn that he had 



COMPANY A, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 177 

lately come to Madison Township from Missouri. Has no 
relatives in Polk County. 

ISAAC Z. NUSSBAUM. 
At the battle of Champion Hills, the Rebels having been 
driven back, John Nussbaum, who had been detached from 
the 10th Iowa to serve in a battery, came along in front of 
that regiment, and casting his eye along the line of 
Company A, " Where," said he, " are Isaac, Bean, and 
Fletcher ? " " Killed," was the reply. " Isaac is in the 
rear, yonder beneath that oak." The brother was soon by 
his side. Isaac was lying as in sleep ; but it was the sleep 
of death, a minie ball having penetrated his forehead above 
the left eye. The brother looked upon the face of the dead 
a moment, and then hastened away to join again in pursuit 
of the retreating foe. 

Isaac Z. Nussbaum was born in Ohio in 1839 ; came 
with his father's family to Polk County, Iowa, in 1848, and 
resided near Polk City. Four of the sons of Mr. Isaac 
Nussbaum were in the Union service, three in the 10th and 
one in the 23d Iowa ; two were killed in battle. Isaac Z., 
the subject of this memoir, was a young man of much prom- 
ise, and a brave soldier. He told his comrades the morn- 
ing before the battle that he was assured in his own mind 
that he would not come out of the fight that day alive. 

He was a religious young man, a member of the Meth- 
odist Church. He had grown up with no other advantages 
of education than such as are open to the farmer boy of 
the frontier ; but he had made good use of his limited op- 
portunities. His letters show him to have been a lover of 
learnino:. 

" Camp Lyons, Bird's Point, Mo., January 21, 1862. 
" My dear little Brother, — I want you to send 
me a letter of your own writing before school is out. Take 
your book home with you and study your lesson, so that you 
12 



178 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

can be at the head of your class. You can be, and I want 
to hear that you are, the best scholar in your class. I was, 
always ; and you can be, if you only try. how I would 
like to hear that you are the best scholar in your class. 

" I do not expect to come home before the war is over. 
I want to help Uncle Sam through first, and then if I am 
still alive, I will think of coming home." 

The following letters are in reference to the part taken 
by the 10th Iowa in the battles of luka and Corinth : — 

'* Camp near Jacinto, September 27, 1862. 

'' Dear Father, — I must give you a little sketch of 
our life. On the 10th instant we were marching on luka, 
where there was a rebel force. In the afternoon we began 
to drive their scouting parties, and then their pickets, and 
about four o'clock we came uj)on their line of battle, where 
they had been lying four days awaiting our approach. The 
firing was soon hot on both sides. Our regiment was on 
the extreme left, and about a quarter of a mile away from 
the line, with two pieces of the 12th Wisconsin Battery. 
We advanced a considerable distance ahead of the main line, 
and took up a position in a point of timber ; but we soon 
saw about six times our number advancing upon us. We 
fell back then, and took position on the top of a hill behind 
an old house and fence. The Rebels soon came out of the 
timber. We poured into them a deadly volley, which made 
them retrace their steps in haste, giving us a round. But 
they were so confused that their fire was not well directed, 
only slightly wounding four of our regiment. On the right 
and in the centre the battle raged more fiercely, the Rebels 
advancing and pushing our lines, and then being driven 
back in turn. The battle lasted until night, when the 
enemy retreated southward, leaving their dead and half 
their wounded in our hands. Our loss is between three 
and four hundred. The battle-ground is about one mile 
from luka." 



COMPANY A, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 179 

" Camp at Corinth, Oct. 14, 1862. 
" After we came back to Jacinto from luka, we stayed 
there one day, when we were ordered to Corinth. When 
we had been in camp near Corinth one day and night, we 
were ordered into town. On the way, our General passed 
along the line and said, ' Boys, Price says that he is going 
to give us a call to-morrow.' If he had told us that we 
were going home to-morrow, we would just as soon have 
believed him. We had heard the same so often that we 
did not think that there was any truth in the message. 
However, we marched to Corinth, and through the town, 
and halted. Companies A and F were dej^loyed as skir- 
mishers. We skirmished about a mile, to the old entrench- 
ments, and remained there about four hours, and then were 
called back. While there we began to hear cannonading 
in the opposite direction. The secesh were coming, sure 
enough ! They came nearer and nearer, driving our men 
before them. We had only about three regiments, besides 
a strong picket guard on the road. After we were called 
in from skirmishing, we went around to the side of the town 
which the Rebels were approaching. Our troops continued 
falling back and letting the Rebels advance till evening, 
when darkness put an end to the fighting. Our regiment 
did not fire a gun this day, though we were at one time al- 
most amongst the Rebels. When we perceived our danger, 
we quickly formed on the railroad, across which we had ad- 
vanced. We had scarpely laid down when there came a 
volley from a masked battery, which we discovered just in 
time to save ourselves from being cut all to pieces. We 
had approached to within thirty yards of it. After firing 
some half dozen shots of canister at us without effect, they 
run one piece around over the railroad track where they 
could have raked us, but before they got their gun in posi- 
tion, we filed ofi'; yet they sent charge after charge of can- 
ister at us, and bursted shell after shell over our heads, and 
it seemed as though we were favored by Providence, for 



180 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

not a man was hurt. This was at 3 o'clock. However, the 
next day we had not so good kick. We lay in line all night. 
Cannonading began at dawn of day. Soon the infantry on 
the left became engaged, and the fight kept growing hotter 
and hotter, and stretching out farther and farther towards the 
right, till about ten o'clock, when our regiment, which was 
on the extreme right, became engaged. After we had fired 
about thirty rounds to the man, the Eebels came upon us 
with such vigor that we fell back a short distance — though 
our regiment was the last one to do so. I think, how- 
ever that it was the order to fall back, that the batteries 
in the rear of us might play on the enemy. On they 
came with a shout, sure of victory. They were in the very 
streets of Corinth ! They had won, they thought. Now they 
could recruit their starved men on ' Yankee provisions ; ' but 
at the moment when they were most confident that the day 
was won by them, our new batteries opened on them. 
They halted ; they wavered ; they fled ! We gave chase ; 
they ran in wild confusion. Our cavalry followed them to 
the Hatchie. The Rebels were there met by another de- 
tachment of our men and routed. Many prisoners were 
taken from them, their train of wagons, and nearly all of 
their artillery." 

THOjMAS MURRAY, 
ANDREW MURRAY. 

The father, Mr. Thomas Murray, of Jefferson Township, 
was always a firm opponent of slavery. When the war began, 
two of his sons, Thomas and Andrew, enlisted. The third 
son (Larkin) followed in a short time, and joined the same 
company with his brothers. Thomas and Andrew enlisted 
August 21, 1861. They were with the regiment in the 
siege of New Madrid, the attack on Fort Wright, siege of 
Corinth, battle of luka, battle of Corinth, and at the siege 
of Vicksburg. 



COMPANY A, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 181 

" In Rear of Vicksburg, June 1, 1863. 

" I suppose you have heard of the death of Thomas and 
Andrew. I am left alone. Andrew died on the 22d of 
May, from the effect of wounds received on the 16th. I 
fear he died from want of care. We were obliged to follow 
up the Rebels, and the wounded were left almost to help 
themselves. 

" Thomas was killed on the 31st of May, in the rifle-pits ; 

shot by a rebel from their breastworks. The ball entered 

the top of his forehead just at the edge of the hair. He 

lived about five minutes. 

" LARKIN MURRAY." 
May 24, Thomas writes : — 

" We had a fight at Champion Hills, about twenty miles 
from here. Andrew was wounded in the thiofh. It is a 
tolerably bad wound, but not dangerous. He was behind 
me. I took him off the field, placed him in an ambulance, 
then went back, got my gun, and went to work again." 

Lieutenant Hanna writes : — 

" Yesterday our company was sent out to occupy rifle- 
pits near the enemy's works. All went on well till late in 
the afternoon, when Thomas Murray was hit by a ball from 
a rebel sharp-shooter. 

" Your boys were the very best of soldiers, always ready 
and willing to do their duty — loved by every member of 
the company." 

"These boys were excellent soldiers," says Colonel 
McCalla ; " as daring as ever went into battle." 

In their letters we find frequent .expressions like these : — 

" I came out to fight for my country, and I will fight till 
I die before I will see this government go down." 

" Father, you said, ' Boys, I want you to fight like men.' 
When it comes to fighting, we can do it." 



182 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" You need not be uneasy about us ; you know what we 
are doing — )ve are in the service of our country." 

" We are glad to hear that so many from our neighbor- 
hood are enlistinsf ; I love to see them turninor out at their 
country's call." 

Thomas, when he enlisted, was twenty years old, Andrew 

nineteen. They were born in Henry County, Indiana ; 

had resided, since they were small boys, in Polk County, 

Iowa. 

LEMUEL TERRILL, 

Aged thirty-five, when he enlisted; his residence Polk 

County ; a " good fighting soldier ; " a native of Ohio ; died 

of wounds received in the battle of Corinth, Miss., October 

4, 1862. 

JOHN T. RULE, 

Was captured by the enemy October 9, 1863, at Browns- 
ville, Miss., while on picket duty. He died May 7, 1864, 
in Andersonville prison. His mother lives in Jefferson 
Township, Polk County, Iowa. He was a good soldier ; 
prompt to do his duty ; aged 23 ; a native of Indiana. 

SERGEANT PETER B. MISHLER. 

Age 30, residence Madison Township, Polk County ; 
native of Pennsylvania ; fifth corporal ; enlisted August 1, 
1861 ; transferred to the Invalid Corps February 15, 1861 ; 
discharged at the expiration of his term of three years' 
service ; died at the city of Baltimore, Md., on his way 
home. A good soldier and a true man. 

JONATHAN WILLIAMS, 

Enlisted as a recruit September 1, 1862 ; took the measles 
at Davenport ; after an illness of two weeks he died, leaving 
a wife and children in Jeflferson Township, Polk County. 
He was a good-hearted man, a professor of religion, and 
highly esteemed by his neighbors. He had resided in Polk 
County, Iowa, six years. 



COMPANY A, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 183 

GEORGE SKIDMORE, 

Age 44 ; residence Corydon, Polk County ; native of Ohio ; 
enlisted as a recruit December 1, 1863, for three years ; 
died October 2, 1864, at Kingston, Ga., of disease. I have 
not met any of his friends. He was married, but his wife 
and family have moved away from the county. He left a 
family of seven dependent children. 



COMPANY B, TENTH IOWA VOLUNTEERS. 

JOHN F. FINK. 

John F. Fink was truly a Christian soldier. He says 
in a letter written September 16, 1861, to his father : — 

" In your letter of the 7th you express a cheerfulness and 
resignation to the will of God, which does my very soul 
good ; in response to which I can say, that although sustain- 
ing an entirely new relation to society, and surrounded by 
individuals of almost every kind, I never before enjoyed 
such a continual flow of peace and contentment as has 
been my portion since enlisting in the service of my country. 
I started out with the settled purpose of fighting for the 
defense of our government, and God being my helper, I 
intend to do it. I feel that I am just where duty requires 
that I should be. 

" Everything has moved smoothly to-day. That of which 
I wish to inform you in particular is the moral and religious 
condition and prospects of our regiment, which, thank God, 
are much more flattering than I had anticipated. In the 
first place, we have a Colonel who stands right on these 
vital questions. He stands ready not only to sanction, but 
to encourage everything which is calculated to elevate and 
ennoble his men. Our chaplain is very agreeable, full of 
religion, energy, and zeal. On last Sabbath evening, he 
visited the various companies for the purpose of selecting 



COMPANY B, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 185 

from each an individual to serve in the capacity of chaplain, 
and on arriving at ours, strange as it may seem, on the sug- 
gestion of the captain and others, 1 was chosen to fill that 
important position. God forbid that I should 'prove un- 
worthy of the trust. 

" On last evening the regimental and company chaplains 
held a meeting for the purpose of adopting a systematic 
plan of operations. Here are some of the results : — 

" General prayer-meeting on every Wednesday evening ; 
Bible class to meet in the various companies every Sabbath 
morning, after which there will be a meeting of some kind, 
preaching, prayer, or class, as circumstances may dictate, 
and which may be attended by all who feel disposed so to 
do ; regimental meeting every Sunday evening, at which 
time all the companies will be formed into line and listen 
to a discourse from the chaplain or some one else elected 
for the occasion ; provision also made for religious services 
on Fast Day. 

" The following was adopted, to be circulated in the 
different companies for signatures. I intend to know with 
what success in ours before to-morrow night. 

" ' We, the undersigned, do hereby pledge ourselves, that 
during the term of our enlistment in the U. S. service we 
will abstain from all card-playing and gambUng of every 
species ; from the use of profane language, and from all 
intoxicating liquors of whatever kind ; and farther, that we 
will, as far as in us lies, endeavor to keep holy the Sabbath 
day, and deport ourselves on all occasions as becomes true 



Fink succeeded in securing 30 names of members of his 
company, to this pledge. 

In nearly all of his letters, he makes mention of his 
religious hopes and the joys of believing. Giving an 
account of a march, he says : — 

" With regard to religious matters we are making little 



186 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

or no progress now, owing to our having been on the move 
for several days, which has deprived us of our meetings. I 
speak now of the company ; personally, I am getting along 
pretty well, and we keep up the family altar in our tent." 

The following testimony in regard to his Christian resig- 
nation while in sickness, can be read but with interest : — 

"Mound City Hospital. 
" V. P. Fink, — I have the consolation to say, in answer 
to your questions, that the conversation and conduct of your 
son were those of an humble Christian, who, confidins^ in the 
mercy of God and infinite merits of the precious blood of 
Jesus, was ready to go with cheerful hope to meet our Lord. 
He suffered much, and some days previous to his death he 
lost his mind. During his illness he spoke often and affec- 
tionately of his parents, home, and friends. I am pleased 
to say that he had all done for him that medical skill could 
do, and I never heard him repine, or speak of wanting any- 
thing more than was attainable here. I do not think that 
he expected any one, as he never alluded to any one prom- 
ising to visit him. He spoke of writing to you should he 
get well enough to do so. In his last moments he sang 
hymns, and no word ever escaped his lips (even during his 
delirium) unbecoming a Christian and a gentleman. I sym- 
pathize with you in your sorrow, but will refer you to Him 
who is called a ' Man of Sorrows.' Your son used to find 
strength and patience in recalHng the sufferings of Jesus 
to his mind when acute pains racked his frame, and let us 
hope with confidence that he now rests from all his pains, 
and bless God, who gave him time for serious preparation 
for death, and a hope of a happy eternity. 

. " With respectful sympathy, I will conclude by thanking 
you for your kind wishes in our regard. 

" Respectfully, 

" Sister M. AUGUSTINE, 

" Sister of the Holy Cross.'' 



COMPANY B, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 187 

John F. Fink was one of the truest and purest and most 
promising of our young men ; full of ambition and hope ; 
struggling for an education ; looking forward to a career 
of usefulness in the world ; destined (as I believe from his 
fervent heart and true Christian aspirations) to the minis- 
try, he left all and entered the army to aid in fighting down 
the unholy Rebellion. 

But I will not attempt to draw a picture of his character, 
as it has been ably done by another hand. 

The following interesting biographical sketch of the life 
of this young man was prepared by his father (the Rev. 
V. P. Fink), at the request of the author of this book. 

MEMOIR, BY REV. V. P. FINK. 

" John Fletcher Fink, son of Valentine P. Fink and 
Louisa P. Fink, was born in the territory of Lewis County 
(now Scotland County), Missouri, Dec. 6, 1838, and he 
died in hospital at Mound City, 111., on the 27th of 
December, 1861, aged 23 years and 21 days. 

" Early love of truth was joined in his mind to honesty 
and kindness, and it was ever his practice to injure no 
one, and to render all happy as far as it was in his power. 
Trained to habits of piety, he was regular in his private 
devotions and prompt in benevolent contributions, especially 
in supporting the ministry. When about ten years old, he 
sought and obtained a knowledge of sins forgiven and ac- 
ceptance of God through Christ. At the same time he 
united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, which rela- 
tion he sustained to the day of his death. After his open 
profession of his piety, he was always prompt in the per- 
formance of the new duties this profession involved, and at 
no time did the Church have aught to complain against him. 
He was a lover of books, and his love of books increased 
with his years. The Bible was his delight. From it he 
read his regular daily lessons by course. When the Rebel- 



188 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

lion broke out he was attending the Seminary at Indianola ; 
his mind became so disturbed that he could not attend to 
his studies, and he spent most of the summer at home. In 
August, 1861, he volunteered, joining Company B, 10th 
Iowa, under Captain Randalman. He volunteered on 
Monday morning in Carlisle, Warren County, having re- 
solved to do so only the Saturday evening before. He 
closed his business in great haste, spent the next day (Sab- 
bath) attending divine service and taking leave of his sister, 
six miles away at the time, teaching school. He took a final 
leave of his mother Monday morning, and bade adieu to 
his brothers and his home, and I hurried off with him to 
Carlisle. By 10 a. m., he was on his way with the company 
to join the regiment at Iowa City. His last words to me 
were, ' Father, I am going to live right, and if I die I am 
going to die right.' Little did I then think that I should 
never more hear his manly voice again on earth ! His letters 
and other testimony show how faithfully he kept his parting 
promise. 

" He was taken with measles and removed from Bird's 
Point to Mound City Hospital. Confined to his last bed 
of sickness, he was calm, devoted, and happy, and his ex- 
piring moments were rather a triumph than a death. 

" As a son, brother, friend, and Christian, he was affection- 
ate, devoted, consistent. I never knew him to utter a false- 
hood, use a profane or immodest word, violate the Sabbath, 
or indulge in anything immoral. With a superior mind, he 
possessed great modesty, and his real worth was rarely 
understood. He never had any difficulty with any one, and 
never had an enemy. 

"V. P. FINK." 

WILLIAM H. STANTON 

Died at Bird's Point, Mo., December 25, 1861, of conges- 
tive chills. He was taken suddenly. A man of robust 
health ; said to have been the best man physically in his 
regiment. 



COMPANY B, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 189 

Stanton enlisted at Des Moines. He had been a resi- 
dent of Polk County since the year 1847, when he came 
here with his father, Richard Stanton, who is now a resi- 
dent of Allen Township. William was born in Vermilion 
County, 111., in 1836. As a soldier he was always prompt 
to discharge his duty. His comrades speak of him in high- 
est terms of respect. His letters show him to have been an 
affectionate and good man. A short time before he died he 
writes from Bird's Point to his home : — 

*' Tell Rene that I send my love to her and the two little 
girls. I hope that you will all try and live right, for that is 
the best way to do. I received a letter from Sarah the 
other day. She said she was going to school this winter. 
I hope she will do well and get a good education. If I 
don't get home I hope you will all use her well, for she is 
dear to me. I am not afraid that you will not use her well, 
nor do I feel as thouorh I will not gret back." 

At another time he says : — 

" I still live in hopes that we will meet again ; but let us 
live right." 

ROBERT OVERTON 

Was in the the service about eight months. He enlisted 
August 23, 1861, and died April 13, 1862, of bronchitis, at 
New Madrid, Mo. Says his mother : " He was a good- 
hearted boy — a very good boy to me." He was born in 
Morgan County. Ind., November, 1839 ; had lived with his 
parents on Keokuk Prairie in Allen Township, Polk County, 
Iowa, twelve years. 

THOMAS H. REED 

Enlisted from Allen Township, Polk County, Iowa, Aug. 
23, 1861, aged 23. His mother lives in Clark County ; his 
father is dead. His brother James was wounded and lost a 
leg at Vicksburg. Thomas was killed at the battle of Cor- 



190 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

inth, when the Rebels made the charge the second day of 
the fight ; shot through the heart from the left side. He 
was buried in his blanket and the initials of his name were 
cut on a tree. " He was a noble boy — as good as ever 
lived," says Lieutenant Kenworthy. " He had a premoni- 
tion of his death. On the morning before he was killed he 
said : ' I shall not live througrh this figrht ! ' He was as 
brave a man as ever took a gun to fight for his country." 
These are the words of his Lieutenant. Another says : 
" You cannot find a man of his company but will say 
Thomas Reed was a good boy." 

JOHN KEENEY, 

Aged 19, enlisted from Allen Township, Polk County, 
Iowa, August 13, 1861. He was a native of Indiana ; died 
May 23, 1863, at Milliken's Bend, La. ; a young man of 
good family and good reputation, respected and industrious. 
I have not met any of his relatives to learn the particulars 
of his service and death, but a comrade informs me that 
" John was a good and dutiful soldier ; did all he was able 
to do. He suffered much from sickness while he was in 
the army — was sick a long time before he died." 

JACOB K. DAVIS, 

Aged 23, a native of Indiana, enlisted August 23, 1861, 
and was wounded May 16, 1863, at Champion Hills, Miss. ; 
his leg was afterwards amputated, and he died of wounds 
June 13, 1863, in the hands of the enemy. He had been 
with the regiment in all of its campaigns and battles up to 
the time he was wounded. He was a man of good morals, 
and industrious. At the time he enlisted, he was living in 
Allen Township, Polk County, working on a farm. As a 
soldier he was among the best, doing his duty promptly and 
cheerfully. 



COMPANY B, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 191 

JEEOME UPDEGRAPH 
Was born in Shelby County, Indiana, May 21, 1844. He 
resided with his widowed mother in Bloomfield Township, 
Polk County, Iowa, and enlisted August 23, 1861. He was 
his mother's chief hope and reliance ; he loved her dearly, 
and he told her that it was his intention that she should live 
with him. He obeyed the voice of duty and enlisted as a 
private soldier ; served faithfully his country, being blessed 
with good health and a hopeful mind ; wrote often to his 
mother, sending her remittances of money. He was 
wounded at the battle of Champion Hills. 

" Jefferson Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., ) 
June 30, 1863. ) 

" My dear Mother, — I was wounded on the 16th of 
May, at the battle of Champion Hills, in my right side ; 
quite a serious wound, but I think it will soon be well* 
Since then I have seen pretty hard times. I was finally 
sent up the river, and last Sunday afternoon was received 
into this hospital, where I am getting very good care. Do not 
worry about your absent son. God has taken care of him 
thus far. We have great reason to thank Him for his good- 
ness. 

"JEROME UPDEGRAPH." 

He lingered in the hospital until the 19th of July, when 
he died of his wounds ; a good boy and a true soldier. 

LIEUTENANT GEORGE M. BENTLEY. 

Bentley served in Mexico, and was in the battle of 
Buena Vista. When the Rebellion began, though he was 
forty-seven years old, he could not be content to remain at 
home ; but went actively to work to raise a company. 
Was instrumental in enlisting a part of a company, which 
uniting with a squad from Warren County, formed com- 
pany B of the 10th Iowa — and Bentley was elected its 
First Lieutenant. He received his commission Sept. 24, 



192 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

1861. Was with his regiment till November, when, at 
Cape Girardeau, he was taken sick and came near dying. 
He says, writing to Mrs. B., Dec. 15, 1861 : — 

, " The fact is I have h^d the hardest spell of sickness I 
ever had. During two weeks I knew nothing, not even 
who nursed me." 

He came home on sick leave and remained at home a 
few weeks. He says of his trip to Davenport : " We 
had a pleasant trip, except our sleigh turned over with us 
four times ; but I fell on Captain Kendleman each time, 
which made it easy for me." The Lieutenant weighed 
over two hundred pounds. 

After his return to the regiment his health still con- 
tinued to fail. He says : — 

" On Board Fleet off Ft. Randolph, ) 
April 15, 1862. j 

" We expect to land soon and attack the enemy. My 
health has been better for some days past though it is poor 
yet. I still continue on duty. I think of resigning as 
soon as I can without doing so in face of the enemy. I 
will not resign when there is a fight at hand. My com- 
pany seems anxious for me to stay." 

While the Lieutenant was at home on furlough he re- 
ceived many letters from members of his company request- 
ing him to continue in command. " I would advise you," 
says one, " to keep the office as long as you can. We 
would like to have you come back to the company as soon 
as you get able." 

Sergeant Cummings, in writing to the Lieutenant, says, 
" The boys send their best respects to you and are anxious 
for your return." 

Bentley's health fast failing him, he resigned on the 26th 
of April and returned home, and on the 26th of May he 
died, and was buried near his home in Allen Township. 



COMPANY B, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 193 

He was born in Springfield, Ky., Oct. 31, 1814, and was 
a man highly esteemed by all who knew him — a member 
of the Baptist Church. To his children he writes, from 
camp : — 

" Now my dear children, I want you to be good, and 
moral, and industrious, and kind to your mother. My de- 
termination is that you shall never hear of any immoral 
conduct of me during my stay in the army. Thomas and 
Susan, I want you to promise me that you will go to no 
more dances. Your character and reputation are your 
all. Even those that dance and swear and are immoral 
will think the more of you if you do not go, and the 
moral and religious part of the community will honor you." 

EPHRAIM PEIRSON. 

PeiPwSON had served in the Mexican War. Having a 
wife and six children dependent on him for support, it 
could hardly be considered his duty to enlist in this war. 
Yet if a man has once been a soldier, it is nearly impossi- 
ble for him to resist the temptation to reenlist at the open- 
ings of another war. Peirson had seen his best days. His 
health was poor during the whole of this last term of ser- 
vice. At the end of two years he was transferred to the 
Invalid Corps and sent to Rock Island. After a few 
months at Rock Island he was sent home, where, in about 
eight weeks after his arrival, he died of bronchitis, aged 47. 
When he came home he said that he could not live long, 
but wished to live till after the presidential election, that 
he might cast his vote for Lincoln. He was a native of 
Kentucky. He died at Avon, Iowa. 

Some extracts from his letters will not be uninteresting 
to the reader. From Cape Girardeau, Oct. 12, 1861, he 
says to his family : — 

" I often think of you all when I lie down at ni-ht to 
13 



194 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

sleep. I can then appreciate how I was enjoying myself 
when I was at home with my family." 

" Bird's Point, Jan. 5, 1862. 
" Mr. Fink is bringing the body of his son John home. 
I want you to attend the funeral. He was greatly respected 
by the company, and with reason ; for he was the best boy 
in the company." 

" Camp near New Madrid, \ 
March 9, 1862. ) 

" I received the cakes you sent me. They were good. 
The butter was lost on the way 

" The ball opened at New Madrid with cannonading, 
which was kept up all day. We were ordered out at three 
o'clock on the following morning, in a rain-storm, and 
we went on a double-quick much of the way for four 
miles. When daylight came, we were near the rebel fort. 
Company B was sent forward as skirmishers ; but we had 
not gone far when we saw two men coming towards us 
with a white flag. They were rebel deserters, who in- 
formed us that the Rebels had evacuated the place." 

" Near Vicksburg, June 29, 1863. 
" I wish you could get a ' United Brethren Hymn Book ' 
and send to me. I love to sing, and I have no book." 

" Vicksburg, Aug. 20, 1863. 
" An accident happened here yesterday. A boat was 
being loaded with ammunition to go down the river. A box 
of percussion shell fell down the hatchway and exploded, 
blowing up the boat and killing one hundred men, mostly 
negroes. I saw the explosion from the camp." 

" Rock Island, Feb. 17, 1864. 
" A man of Company F, Invalid Corps, was frozen to 
death last Monday night. He was about forty years old, 
and was intoxicated at the time. When found he was but 



COMPANY B, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 195 

a few hundred yards from the garrison. So much for old 
King Alcohol ! " 

" Paris, Edgar Co., III., Aju-il 4, 1864. 

" Now I can tell you what we came here for. It was to 
keep the Copperheads in subjection : for they are very 
mutinous here. They raised a mob in Charleston, 111., and 
killed five of our men and wounded several more. Two or 
three have since died. Major York was killed, and we as- 
sisted at his burial. This fighting in the rear is not popu- 
lar with us, and we will put it down with a strong hand." 



COMPANY G, TENTH IOWA VOLUNTEERS. 
JOSEPH MILES. 

Joseph and Henry Miles, brothers, were members of 
the same company. Joseph was killed in the battle of 
Champion Hills, at the age of twenty-six. His aged father, 
John Miles, is a farmer, and lives on Agency Prairie, in 
Polk County. Joseph Miles was born in Wayne County, 
Ohio. He had lived six years in Iowa at the time of his 
enlistment. He came home from the army on furlough 
in 1862, and was married — then returned to his company, 
resumed his place in the ranks, and was shortly afterwards 
killed in battle. He died a brave and true man. 

"Camp on Black River, May 7, 1833. 

" My dear Wife, — We have been on quite a march 
since I last wrote you. We left Milliken's Bend April 25, 
marched about fifty miles down the river, and crossed over 
on gun-boats ; then started up on the east side. We met 
the enemy near Grand Gulf and had quite a severe en- 
gagement ; but we drove him before us, and we have ad- 
vanced as far as Blackwater, which is about twenty miles 
below Vicksburg. We have been here three days. We 
design marching round in rear of Vicksburg ; but how 
soon I am not able to say. 

" I hope the hard marching and war will soon be no 
more, and our once prosperous and most glorious Union be 
restored again to peace. Do not get discouraged ; though 
many are dying of sickness and some are falling on the 



COMPANY G, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 197 

battle-field, I cannot but think that I will be with you 
sooner or later." .... 

This was the last letter he wrote home. He was killed 
May 16, at three o'clock, p. m. While the regiment was in 
line on the extreme left, a musket-ball struck him in the neck 
from the front, breaking the bone, and producing almost 
instant death. He had been married nine months. He 
was buried on the spot where he fell. A young man irre- 
proacliable in character, he gave his life for his country. 
Can we realize the magnitude of the gift ? A young wife 
left to mourn — all that is desirable in life is given up for 
the general good. '' I feel," he says in one of his letters, 
" as though I could face the enemy with cheerfulness and 
without fear, knowing that if I should fall while in the act 
of discharging my duty, I would be serving God and my 
country. I could not die in a better cause." 

A few extracts further from his letters will be read with 
interest : — 

" Bird's Point, Nov. 22, 1861. 

" Soldiering is hard business ; but I shall never regret 

that I enlisted in the war. I am well satisfied, and in 

good heart" 

"Bird's Point, Jan. 16, 1862. 

" I am in good heart, and always ready to discharge ray 
duty as a soldier." 

"Bird's Point, Mo., Feb. 18, 1862. 

"The chaplain held a prayer-meeting in my mess to- 
night. We had a very good meeting. There are prayer- 
meetings in the regiment every other night." 

" Within Two Miles of New Madrid, Mo., \ 

March 17, 1862. ) 

" I feel a little dull to-day — have had a rough time in 
the last two weeks, lying out in the rain and losing a great 



198 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

deal of sleep. Soldiering is hard business ; but I shall 
never regret that I am a soldier." 

" Near Helena, Akk., 31arch 12, 1863. 

" The Copperheads in the North are doing our army as 
much harm as the Rebels — prolonging the war by causing 
dissatisfaction in the army and encouraging Rebels. I 
would as soon shoot a Copperhead as Jeff. Davis." 

" Helena, Ark., April 11, 1863. 
" Of all bad places, Yazoo Pass is the worst. Some 
days as we went down we ran only two miles, and thought 
we were doing well at that. I am very anxious to hear of 
the conscript law being enforced. I hope every Copperhead 
will be forced to take up arms to help crush the Rebellion." 

JOHN LAFAYETTE EEPLOGLE 

Was sixteen years old when he enlisted, Aug. 28, 1861 — 
born in Petersburg, Highland County, Ohio, April 6, 1845. 
Of cheerful disposition and kind heart ; inclined to sick- 
ness before he went into the service, but after this he was 
never sick. He sent from the army the greater part of his 
earnings to his father. His mother was dead. He was 
an only son. Before the war he resided in Allen Town- 
ship, Polk County, and attended Mr. Vanslyck's school. 
Mrs. V. was his sister. Replogle was killed in the rear of 
Vicksburg — wounded in the charge May 20, 1863, and 
died May 22 of his wounds. He is spoken of by his com- 
rades in terms of praise for his manly and soldierly quali- 
ties. His letters (and he wrote many) contain little to in- 
terest the general reader, though he wrote good home let- 
ters. Young as he was he never became homesick, never 
expressed regrets for his having exchanged the comforts 
of home for the privations of a soldier's life. 



COMPANY G, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 199 

•' Bird's Point, Mo., Feb. 16, 1863. 
" Our regiment was called up in line of battle last night 
for the first time since we have been out. It was about 
five o'clock in the morning. I thought we would have a lit- 
tle fight anyhow ; but we were soon ordered to stack arms 
and go into quarters. The pickets were run in (so it was 
said), but the truth is that nothing but a tree fell. The 
pickets, thinking themselves fired upon, ran in and gave 
the alarm." 

After the battle of luka he writes : — 

" Camp near Jacinto, Miss., Sept. 28, 1862. 
" We have had a little fight with old Price. Our regi- 
ment did not get in the hardest of it, as we were on the 
left flank. The Fifth Iowa had the severest of the fight." 

After the battle of Corinth : — 

" I have been in another fight, from which I came out 
all right and ready for them again." 



COMPANY H, TENTH IOWA VOLUNTEERS. 

SERGEANT OLIVER 0. HOSIER. 

The following well-written memoir of Sergeant Mosier, 
w^as prepared at my request by his brother, C. A. Mosier, 
Superintendent of Schools of Polk County. I will premise 
by saying that Sergeant Mosier was a son of Mr. Eli 
Mosier, of Madison Township, one of the earliest settlers 
of Polk County, and one of her most respected citizens. 
Two of his sons entered the army. Cross 0. and Oliver. 
The first named was for a long time a prisoner in the 
hands of the enemy, and though he reached home alive, 
and is now engaged in peaceful pursuits — an honored 
young man, with, I hope, a long life of usefulness before 
him — he suffered in prison worse than death. 

'' Oliver Orton Mosier was born in Platte County, Mo., 
May 8th, 1840. In 1848 his parents emigrated to Polk 
County, low^a, which he ever afterward called home. At 
the age of twelve he attended a school under the supervis- 
ion of Rev. J. A Nash. At fifteen he entered the clothing 
store of Almon Ford, of Indianola, Warren County, where^ 
during the succeeding three years, he acquired a good 
practical business education, and a pretty thorough knowl- 
edc^e of the clothins: business. At eighteen he entered, as 
salesman, the dry goods and grocery store of an uncle, at 
New Jefferson, Greene County. After remaining there one 
year he married Miss Amanda Orr (sister of Hon. J. Orr, 
of Boone County), an amiable woman and a devoted and 
self-sacrificing wife, who hesitated not to buckle the armor 
on her husband when duty called him to the field. 

" In August, 1861, the subject of this sketch enlisted in 
Company H, 10th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, of wdiich com- 



COMPANY H, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 201 

pany he was elected second lieutenant and was commis- 
sioned by Governor Kirkwood. Before the regiment was 
mustered into service, he voluntarily resigned his commis- 
sion and entered the ranks as a private, in order to secure a 
squad of men to fill his company to the maximum. When 
the regiment was finally organized, he was elected com- 
missary sergeant. Being familiar with the details of mer- 
cantile business, the weighty duties and responsibilities 
of the commissary department of that regiment fell upon 
his shoulders. This difficult position he continued to fill 
with entire satisfaction to the regiment, till, in the month 
of January, 1862, at Cairo, 111., he was prostrated by a 
dangerous fever. After two weeks' illness he so far recov- 
ered as to attempt to perform the arduous duties of his 
post. His zeal for the cause in which he was engaged, led 
him to over-exhaust himself; the fever returned, and 
within less than a week from the time of his first convales- 
cence, he was called from duty to await the final reveille of 
the resurrection morn. His remains were sent in a casket 
to his wife, at. Cedar Falls, and decently interred there. 

■ " O. 0. Mosier was a favorite with the whole of the reg- 
iment to which he belonged. No half clad, hungry soldier 
ever came to him and made knowm his wants without ob- 
taining relief from him, even if he had to cut the red tape 
with which the commissary stores in his possession were 
^ tied up.' To this fact many a soldier of the 10th Iowa 
will attest. 

" Such is the brief history of one who waited not to be 
called a second time, and who kept not his single talent 
hid in a napkin in the time of the nation's need. Though 
he died not on the field of battle, his death was as honora- 
ble, remaining as he did at his post and the duty assigned 
him as long as his throbbing fevered brain could guide and 
his emaciated limbs support him. His name will justly be 
handed down with the heroic thousands of honored dead 
who freely sacrificed their lives for the sublime and glo- 
rious cause of Universal Liberty." 



• 



COMPANY K, TENTH IOWA VOLUNTEERS. 

MAJOR ROBERT LUSBY 

Was born in Cecil County, Maryland, in the year 1824, 
and brought up in Delaware by pious parents — Roman 
Catholics in religion. For a number of years previous to nis 
coming West, he was engaged in business in Smyrna, Del. 
An honest, upright man, he had many friends. He came 
to Dubuque, Iowa, in the year 1852, where he remained 
until the year 1854, when he and Mr. E. L. Burnham 
started to move to Kansas ; but when they reached Des 
Moines concluded to make this their home. They estab- 
lished the first real grocery store ever started in Des 
Moines, in the year 1854. A " grocery " in Des Moines, 
previous to the one started by Burnham and Lusby, was 
only a whiskey shop, with a few plugs of tobacco and a little 
tea and coffee, etc., thrown in. The " oldest inhabitant " 
was much surprised not to find " Whiskey for Sale " in the 
establishment of E. L. Burnham & Co. They continued 
iii the grocery business here two years, when they sold out 
their interest to the Laird Eros., who have ever since car- 
ried on a large wholesale and retail grocery business. 
Kind and accommodating to their customers, the Laird 
Bros, have built up a very extensive trade, doing, perhaps, 
the heaviest business of any firm in Des Moines. 

In the year 1856 Lusby went into the employment of 
Mills & Co. as chief clerk in their establishment, where he 
was engaged when the war began. March 31, 1861, he 
writes from Des Moines to a friend in the East : — 

" My opinion is that we are on the eve of a civil war. 
I can see no help for it, except a complete abandonment of 



COMPANY K, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 203 

all our principles, and I cannot believe that Mr. Lincoln 
can prove a traitor to his friends so far as to give up every- 
thing, though the evacuation of Sumter is a sad indica- 
tion." 

April 20, 1861, he writes : — 

" We are on the eve of a horrible war, I fear, and there 
is no telling where we'll bring up. I am perfectly satisfied 
with the course Mr. Lincoln is taking, and if he will only 
continue in a vigorous and determined course, I care not 
what the result may be ; I am prepared for any emergency 
to maintain the Constitution and laws." 

In the postscript to the same letter he says ; — 

" The above was written some days ago, and since it was 
written the war question has become more exciting. The 
country is in a blaze. Everybody is going, nearly, and 
among them your humble servant. We have had a com- 
pany in operation here for some months. I was not a 
member of it until the attack upon Sumter ; then I joined 
as a private. I have been appointed second sergeant, the 
highest vacancy in the company." 

Again : — 

"Des Moines, May 31, 1861. 

. . . " In the same mail with yours I received let- 
ters from my friends in camp at Keokuk, and also from my 
friends in the South. One from my sister informed me 
that one of my brothers was in the Southern army, at 
Richmond. Don't this beat the world ! Poor Lem, I fear 
he will pay dearly for his folly ! He was very violent upon 
this subject when a boy at home. My other brothers, like 
myself, from our cradles despised the injustice of the 'insti- 
tution,' though we were never Abolitionists. 

^* Mr. Lincoln is going to have more of a job putting 



204 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

down this Rebellion than the people at the North generally 
suppose. T have had this opinion from the first, and I am 
more convinced of it now. If it had been taken at the first, 
during Mr. Buchanan's administration, it could have been 
easily quelled ; but he failed to do it, and he and the Dem- 
ocratic party are responsible for this war. By his inac- 
tivity and conciliatory policy he virtually acknowledged the 
right of secession, until the whole people of the South are 
impressed with the justice of their claims and the persecu- 
tion of the North. what a shameful outrage and der- 
eliction of duty has been perpetrated upon this govern- 
ment by this man and his party I The blood of the people 
is upon his hands, and will be forever. There is a great 
error in the minds of the Northern people, in my opinion, 
in regard to the Union sentiment in the Border States. I 
have never had any confidence in it. They are conserva- 
tive generally, but I can assure you they sympathize with 
secession almost to a man, and they are kept in the Union 
to-day only by positive compulsion. There is a Union sen- 
timent in the cities ; but in the country and small towns it 
is the other way. Mr. Lincoln has got but one policy to 
pursue to be successful, and that is to prosecute this war 
vigorously and without stint, and that rapidly ; and I hope 
with all my heart he will do it, even if my best friends and 
relatives should be among the slain. I hope he will bring 
them to their senses at the mouth of the cannon and the 
point of the bayonet. 

" Our young men with the Second Regiment are all at 
Keokuk. It was one of the greatest trials of my ^vhole life 
to have to stay behind. But it was utterly impossible for me 
to go for that length of time. vSince their departure Des 
Moines is very dull. Our Legislature has just adjourned. 
They came up to the work generally like men ; placed at 
the disposal of the Governor what money he required ; 
passed a militia law and other like bills, to the full satis- 
faction, I presume, of the whole people. They also made 



COMPANY K, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 205 

some changes in the revenue law, much to its improve- 
ment." 

It will be remembered that Company D, 2d Iowa In- 
fantry Volunteers, was recruited under the first call for 
75,000 three months' men ; but not being received under 
this call, as many as could reenlisted for three years. 
Lusby was hindered from going in at this time (as he men- 
tions above) ; but in August, 1861, he raised a company 
which was accepted as Company K, 10th Iowa Infantry 
Volunteers, and Robert Lusby was elected and commis- 
sioned Captain, Sept. 24, 1861. He participated in all of 
the battles and marches of his regiment until the battle of 
Champion Hills, where he was severely wounded. 

" Officers' Hospital, Memphis, May 28, 1863. 

" Dear Burnham, — I arrived here in hospital boat 
City of Memphis last night, from the battle-field in rear of 
Vicksburg, with ball in my neck and lungs. I am doin^ 
first-rate, however, and with care will be fit for duty again 
in a week or two. 

" You will see the account of the battle of Baker's 
Creek (we called it Champion Hills). It was on Big- 
Black River. It was there we caught a Tartar ; but we 
drove the enemy before us at the point of the bayonet as 
usual, after losing, however, nearly half our men. We 
are in Quinby's Division, commanded at the time by 
Crocker. Our campaign in rear of Vicksburg, from our 
landing below Grand Gulf, — our battles of Port Gibson, 
Bayou Pierre, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills, to the 
formation of our lines under the guns of Vicksburg, — has 
been the most brilliant in generalship and good manage- 
ment in the history, not only of this war, but the world ; 
and Grant has more than redeemed himself in the estima- 
tion of the soldiers and the people. There was no error 



206 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

committed ; nothing left undone. Everything was a suc- 
cess, and met the entire approbation of the soldiers 

" We went into Jackson on Thursday, 14th, after a hard 
day's work, through a tremendous storm of drenching rain, 
driving the Rebs at the point of the bayonet, and with 
' Heaven's artillery ' booming overhead and the Rebels' ar- 
tillery crushing through our ranks, and camped on the out- 
skirts of town about six o'clock, p. m., on the wet ground. 
The next morning at dawn we were off again and marched 
to within two miles of where we knew Pemberton would 
make his biggest fight, to prevent our crossing Big 
Black. At dawn we were up again, and soon we could 
hear our advance going ijito their work finely. We this 
day were in reserve, but as Major McCalla says, ' The 
reserve always does the hardest fighting,' we had to do the 
most of it here. Having done all the work at Jackson, 
two days before, we supposed we WjOuW be exempt, and 
would have been, had not the Rebs driven Hovey so bad 
that we had to go to. his support ; and as we were the re- 
serve it became necessary for us to hold the field, else all 
would have been gone. Hovey 's left fell back, driven by 
numerous double lines of the enemy. We were ordered up 
on double-quick to support him. Hovey broke through our 
ranks on the keen run, and we had to breast the storm of 
bullets against double our numbers and stand our groimd, 
or the day would be gone. We stood because we knew 
there was nothing in our rear and we were the last resort. 
I received a ball in the neck in the beginnino^ of the 
action, but did not know I was hurt till my voice gave way, 
and stayed on the field until the fight was over. All my 
best and bravest men were shot at my feet, but two or 
three, and we fought over their dead bodies. Our officers 
were nearly all wounded ; three of them killed. After the 
fight was over I was taken to the hospital, where I laid in 
great pain for three days, when I got in an ambulance and 
followed the regiment, supposing myself able to take com- 



COMPANY K, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 20T 

mand of my company. I reached the regiment just in 

time to see them make the first charge on the works at 

Vicksbiirg. When I got there I was completely exhausted, 

and laid me down and witnessed the most thrilling scene 

of my whole life. Our men, of course, were driven back, 

and I went into hospital again worse than at first. The 

shock was too much for my nerves. We were repulsed 

again next day in another charge ; but we will take Vicks- 

burg nevertheless. 

"LUSBY." 

In anottier letter, dated June 4th, he says of the Vicks- 
burg campaign : — 

" We had a terrible campaign down there, Burnham ; 
the most sanguinary, yet successful and glorious, in the 
whole war. We lost many men, more than the world will 
ever know ; but we drove the enemy all the time, and I 
think by the time this reaches you we will have Vicksburg." 

I have often thought that more brave men were sacri- 
ficed in restoring- our beloved Union than we are aware of. 
Think of this one, new, and sparsely settled county of Polk 
— so new that not, perhaps, more than one acre out of one 
hundred, of land fit for cultivation in the county, has as 
yet been reclaimed from a state of nature ; and this county 
lost in the war about two hundred and eighty men ! Mul- 
tiply two hundred and eighty by the number of counties 
in the twenty Loyal States of the North, and then we have 
not yet counted as many as were torn from friends and 
home and bereft of life by the unholy Rebellion. And 
those wicked men who raised their bloody hands to destroy 
our people, must yet insult us by gloating over their treason 
and demanding " rfghts." Their rights ought to be the 
gallows rather than the full 'pardon that has been extended 
to them. Wicked men — unrepentant as they are, let those 
who strove to destroy never have a voice in this government. 



208 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Let them feel that theirs was truly a lost cause, and they 
themselves are lost men, beyond the reach of redemption 
— never again to be known as " citizens ; " but upon their 
tpmb-stones be engraved " traitors " — and let their mem- 
ory rot, and their own children blush to name them ! 

Lusby gave such graphic accounts of the battles in which 
he participated, that I must give room to a few further 
quotations from his letters. 

BATTLE OF lUKA. 

" You have seen some account of the battle. It is, how- 
ever, poorly represented in the papers. 

" It was a terrific fight for three hours, right face to face 
with the enemy, and all on one piece of ground and 
nowhere else. We formed our lines and moved on them, 
and it was charge and recharge right there, with infantry 
and artillery, until 8 o'clock at night ; and all that about 
the 47th and 66th Illinois is a lie and nothing else. They 
were not there.^^ 

BATTLE OF CORINTH. 

" No correspondence can describe the fighting there on 
Saturday morning on the part of the Rebels. I don't be- 
lieve any man ever saw more desperate, reckless, and brave 
charges than the enemy made on our guns. Nothing 
stopped them but the iron bullets, and then the remainder 
still came on — on, on, entirely regardless of the showers of 
grape and canister from our lines of artillery, and bullets 
from our rifles. It was most beautiful, grand, and terrific. 
I never saw anything so grand and awful before — never 
expect to again. Our guns were placed so as to rake them 
in any position, and our infantry placed in rear to support 
them, and our forts so as to cover the whole. They took 
some of the forts, and drove our infantry supports, and 
captured our artillery, but took nothing from the field. 
When they had driven our centre, captured all our centre 



COMPANY K, TENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 209 

guns, and were ready to walk in and claim their prizes, 
they — laid down and died ! You have heard of enfi- 
lading fires. Our artillery opened on them from right and 
left, and then our division charged after we had given 
them all the grape they could stand, and they broke. 
We chased them for three days." 

His description of the Yazoo Pass expedition is very in- 
teresting ; but it is too long for insertion here. I can only 
quote : — 

" Everybody seemed to feel, when that order came from 
Grant to return, that the most trying time for our army 
that we had ever had, had come. No one knew the cause 
of it — all we knew was that we were ordered to get out 
of that, and out we must go, cost what it might. We got 
out, and every man's heart is as light as a feather." 

Lusby recovered from his wound and returned to his 
company about the 1st of August, 1863. August 20, 1863, 
he was commissioned Major of the Tenth Regiment. He 
was placed on General Crocker's staff, and accompanied 
the General to New Mexico. He died at Fort Sumner, 
Feb. 20, 1865, of poison accidentally administered by his 
own hands. 

Mr. A. C. Talbot says of Lusby, — " He was one of the 
most generous men that ever lived — whole-souled — he 
had many warm friends." General Crocker said that he 
thought more of Lusby than any man he was ever ac- 
quainted with. Generous to a fault, high-minded and hon- 
orable. 

14 



COMPANY E, FOURTEENTH IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

ROBERT LINDSLEY, 

Born in Athens County, Ohio, Feb. 2, 1836, had lived 
in Polk County, Iowa, one year when he entered the ser- 
vice. A man of irreproachable Christian character, he was 
a member of the Presbyterian Church. He says in a letter 
to his sister, Mrs. Person, written shortly after the battle 
of Donelson, and speaking of having passed through that 
battle safely : — 

" Should we not be thankful to our Maker for his kind- 
ness to us ? Dear sister, I want you to ever live for that 
which is good for a Christian, and to remember me as such. 
We do not know from one day to another where we will 
be." 

" Robert enlisted," says his sister, " for love of country." 
He was a school-teacher by profession ; an intelligent and 
amiable young man ; the pride of his friends, and an 
ornament to the community in which he lived. At the 
battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862, he was taken prisoner by 
the enemy, along with many others of his comrades. The 
last letter received from him was written in prison. It was 
sent home by the hands of a companion who had been ex- 
changed. 

" Dear Sister, — My health is moderately good only. 

I am in Macon, Ga., in the hands of the enemy. Send 

this to mother immediately. 

"ROBERT." 



4 
COMPANY E, FOURTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 211 

He died August 22, 1862, at Macon, Ga., of dropsy and 
scurvy, resulting from want of proper food while confined 
in prison. 

The following letter was written by him the day before 
the battle of Shiloh, in which battle he was captured : — 

" Pittsburg Landing, Saturday, April 5, 1862. 
" Dear Sister, — I am well this morning, or nearly so 
at least, as I took a very hearty breakfast of coffee and 
ham and some good biscuits. It is showery and fine 
growing weather. Everything looks nice. Nature appears 
to be smiling ; the grass growing ; the trees look green, 
and the birds are singing. It appears like our May 
weather in Iowa. The boys are all well and in good 
spirits. We are under marching orders and expecting 
every moment to have to fight ; but have only been in 
one battle yet — Fort Donelson. The health of the regi- 
ment is better than it has been for some time. We are 
within eighteen miles of Florence, where we are expecting 

to go. 

" ROBERT." 

EGBERT WOODWARD 
Enlisted from near Lafayette, Polk County, where his 
parents dwelt before the war. He was a good hoj. Aged 
twenty years ; enlisted Aug. 5, 1861 ; died June 12, 
1862, at St. Louis, of disease. He was a native of Mis- 
souri. 

JOHN L. MILTON, 

Age, twenty-seven ; residence, Polk County ; native of 
Ohio ; private ; enlisted Sept. 28, 1861. Wounded at 
Shiloh, April 6, 1862, severely in the thigh ; died Sept. 19, 
1862, at Mound City, 111., of wounds. 



COMPANY B, FIFTEENTH IOWA VOLUNTEERS. 

The history of the Fifteenth Regiment is very fully 
given in the reports of the Adjutant-General of lowa.^ 
A few words here in reference to Company B. 

It was organized in the month of July, 1861, by Captain 
Wilson T. Smith, a citizen of Des Moines, as a company 
of independent sharp-shooters, under a call for such troops 
by General John C. Fremont ; the company to be known 
as the Iowa Central Sharp shooters. No company of men, 
perhaps, in our army rendered better service than did 
Company B, never forgetting their character as " sharp- 
shooters." They were carefully trained by Lieutenant 
(afterwards Captain) A. G. Studer, a native of Switzerland, 
and educated in a military school in his native country 
— a brave and accomplished officer, as well as a good 
citizen. In the battle of Shiloh, Company B rendered 
very signal service — checking at one time by the ac- 
curacy of its fire, the advance of a large body of the enemy, 
receiving special mention from Head-quarters for its action 
on that occasion ; fought in the battles of Corinth and 
luka ; participated in the siege and capture of Vicksburg ; 
veteranized ; marched with Sherman to the sea — and to 
Washington ; was discharged at Louisville, July 24, 1865, 
and disbanded at Davenport. The following named mem- 
bers of Company B received commissions during the war : 
Wilson T. Smith, Adolphus G. Studer, Chris. E. Lanstrum, 
1 See Rep. 1865-6, p. 197. 



COMPANY B, FIFTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 213 

William H. Goodrell, David King, Reese Wilkins, John 
Stanton Greene, Robert Lyon. The following are the names 
of soldiers of the company, residents of Polk County, who 
have yielded up their lives : — 

CHARLES BEEKMAN, 

Born in Schoharie, New York, April 2, 1846 ; enlisted 
in Company B, 15th Iowa regiment, Oct. 11, 1861 ; died 
of typhoid fever, in hospital at Keokuk, Iowa, Dec. 23, 
1861, aged fifteen years, eight months and twenty-one days. 
" He was a promising young soldier," says Captain Cross, 
" and while sick bore his afflictions with remarkable forti- 
tude." 

" Was a good and faithful man," says Captain Studer, 
" entered upon his duties with zeal ; tried to learn and do 
whatever was required of him. Being of tender years, he 
died after a very brief term of service." 

When his mother heard of his illness, she went immedi- 
ately to Keokuk and watched by his bedside continually 
for three weeks, when he died. As soon as she saw that 
he could not get well, she said to him, — " Charles, if you 
should never recover, do you feel reconciled to go ? " He 
replied, — " Mother, I do." 

Charles was fond of a gun. As soon as the war began, 
his whole mind was taken up with the thought of being a 
soldier. His gun had been his delight since he was thir- 
teen, though it was a severe shock to him when his friend 
and companion, Fenimore Cooper,^ was killed by the acci- 
dental discharge of a gun, while standing right by Charles's 
side. This, however, did not eradicate from his mind his 
attachment to his gun and love of hunting, which is said 
to be miniature war. 

" Mother," said Charles, one day, '• may I go to war ? " 
She replied, — " Charles, do you really want to go ? " 

1 Son of Mr. Isaac Cooper, an early settler of Polk County. 



214 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" Nothing," said he, " would please me better ; it is my 
whole thought." " Do you," said she, " think that you 
could be of any service to your country ? " " Yes," he re- 
plied, '' I know I can." " I did not know that they would 
accept such young boys," said she. " They will take me, 
mother," Charles answered. He had been to see the re- 
cruiting officers, and received their promise that they would 
accept of him, if he could gain his parents' consent. 

" If you are determined," said he to his parents one 
day, " that I shall not go, I will give it up ; but here are 
other boys of my age enlisting, and I know that I am as 
strong and able for duty as they are, and can do as much 
good in the army." 

" He had been studying about it so long," says Mrs. 
Beekman, " and talked so manly, that pride for my son led 
me to give my consent." After he had been at Keokuk a 
few weeks, he was sent back to Des Moines by his officers 
to bring on some recruits. He knocked at his mother's 
door and came in, dressed in the uniform of the Union sol- 
dier ; his proud and manly bearing led her to feel glad 
that she had let him go. He returned to camp with a glad 
heart. 

He had always been very healthful. His sickness took 
a deep hold on him from the beginning, and baffled the 
skill of the physician, who manifested very great interest 
in him. The officers of his company felt great anxiety for 
his recovery, for he was much attached to them, especially 
to Captain Smith ; and the Captain visited him often in his 
sickness, which comforted Charles greatly. He was a good 
boy ; kind to his parents ; dearly loved his mother ; affec- 
tionate to his brother and sisters ; generous to all. At 
school he made rapid progress in his studies. 

HENRY P. TAYLOR, 
Says Captain Studer, " died suddenly and unexpectedly." 
A most excellent man ; a real Christian and a gentleman ; 



COMPANY B, FIFTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 215 

one of the best men in the company ; a true patriot ; 
quiet and firm ; anxious to perform all his duties ; kind 
and courteous to all around him, very respectful to his offi- 
cers ; highly esteemed and respected by all. In the night 
of March 14, 1862, he fell suddenly ill, in the company's 
quarters at Camp Halleck, Keokuk, and died within about 
1-J hours from the time he first complained. The sur- 
geon could not render a correct certificate as to name of 
disease, but thought it to be congestive chill, he having 
been summoned too late to see much of his case, or to save 
him. Taylor had a wife and several small children when 
he enlisted, depending wholly on him for support. His 
sudden and untimely end created a deep feeling of sadness 
among all around him. He was a good citizen, and the 
country lost a splen(^id soldier. He lived in Des Moines ; 
was a laboring man ; age, thirty-three ; a native of Ohio ; a 
private; enlisted Feb. 6, 1862. 

CONRAD WERTZEL, 

Age, twenty-two ; residence, Des Moines, Polk County ; 
native of Indiana ; private ; enlisted Sept. 9, 1861 ; killed 
in the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862. Captain A. G. 
Studer says of Wertzel, — " He was a good, faithful, and 
obedient soldier — a favorite among his companions. At 
Shiloh, when marching into battle, he was very eager and 
cheerful. A shell burst close to him — right over his head 
and the heads of his comrades. ' Good morning, sir,' said 
Wertzel, and fell the next moment — a minie ball strik- 
ing him between the eyes. He was the first man killed in 
Company B. He was passing through Des Moines from 
the mountains when he enlisted. His mother lived in 
Illinois." " He was a good man," says Lieutenant Wil- 
kins. 

BENJAMIN F. STOUGHTON 

Died April 26, 1862, at Louisville, Ky., of wounds re- 
ceived in the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862. Bprn in 



216 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Clinton County, New York ; had lived only a short time in 
Iowa when he enlisted, Feb. 16, 1862 ; aged twenty-four; 
unmarried ; he had been in the service forty days when 
wounded. While the 15th Iowa was lying in front of the 
enemy at Shiloh, the balls passing close to their heads, 
Stoughton raised up to fire, when a ball took off a portion 
of his skull. The company fell back and left him in the 
rebel lines, and he was not found by his comrades until 
April 8. When found, he was sitting under a tree, with a 
wet cloth on his head. A soldier of the enemy had given 
Stoughton a canteen of water. The brain was swollen and 
protruding from the skull, the bigness of a hen's egg. He 
walked to *the hospital, led by a comrade. His mother 
lives in Clark Countv, Iowa. Mr. Randall, of Peoria City, 
was Stouorh ton's brother-in-law. 

Captain A. G. Studer says of Stoughton : — 

" He was a splendid soldier, of fine appearance — well 
grown and strong; was as good a man as he w^as good 
looking ; of jovial disposition ; loving discipline. It is my 
opinion, as well as that of the surgeon of the regiment, that 
if his case had been properly attended to he might have 
lived. He would not give up his hopes of life. When the 
surgeon ordered his removal to a hospital boat at Pittsburg 
Landing, for transportation to a Northern hospital, he in- 
structed the soldiers carrying him on the litter to keep 
step, according to drill, counting himself ' one,' ' two,' 
' left,' ' right,' in order to ease the movement and allevi- 
ate his intense pains. He was a brave, patriotic, and ex- 
cellent soldier in every respect. He had been in the three 
months' service, as one of Lew. Wallace's Zouaves, in 

Virginia." 

JOHN W. GUTHRIE 

Lived before the war near Snider's Post OfiSce, in Jef- 
ferson Township, Polk County, Iowa. " Was," says Cap- 
tain Studer, " a very good and willing soldier ; was in the 



COMPANY B, FIFTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 217 

battle of Shiloh, and fought well." Age, nineteen ; a 
private; native of Ohio; enlisted Oct. 25, 1861 ; died of 
disease, at Keokuk, June 11, 1862. " He bore," says Lieu- 
tenant Wilkins, " a good character in the company for mo- 
rality and honesty. Nobody could dispute his good soldier- 
ship." 

WILLIAM L. CLOSE, 

Son of Mr. Close,* of Valley Township, Polk County. 
" Was," says Captain Studer, " enlisted for Captain Hoxie's 
company, 17th Iowa, March 1, 1862. When sent to Keokuk, 
for muster into United States service, he desired to be 
transferred to Company B, 15th Iowa Infantry. An ex- 
change was effected in the person of private William Purs- 
ley, who was duly transferred to Captain Hoxie's company, 
17th Iowa, while William L. Close was duly received in 
his desired Company B. He entered upon his duties with 
good will ; was anxious to learn all his duties ; was of good, 
steady habits, very orderly and well behaved — hence well 
respected by all. Like private Henry P. Taylor, he was 
taken suddenly ill during the night of March 17-18, in the 
company's barracks at Camp Halleck, Keokuk, and died of 
congestive fever a few hours afterwards, to the greatest 
surprise of all, for he was seemingly strong, of good con- 
stitution, and well built. His death was deeply regretted 
by all, because he was well liked for the short time he was 
connected with this command." 

Age, twenty-one ; a native of Illinois ; private ; mus- 
tered into the United States service, March 14. 

ANDREW J. BURGE, 

Age, twenty-seven ; a native of Ohio ; residence, Des 
Moines, Polk County; enlisted Dec. 24, 1861. He had 
lived in this county since its earliest organization — 
his father being one of the first white settlers. Was 
religious, and of strict morals, and naturally intelli- 
gent ; but was inclined to insanity, and had been at one 



218 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

time a patient in the Asylum at Mt. Pleasant ; yet, as a 
soldier, he performed his duties faithfully — showing no 
signs of the return of his malady. Lieutenant Wilkins 
informs me that he was a good and obedient soldier, and 
Captain Studer says : — 

" Of this soldier I can say nothing but what is strictly 
good. I never knew him to utter an path or to say even 
an unkind word to anybody. He was very sedate, quiet, 
and unobtrusive ; modest to a fault, perhaps ; honest and 
scrupulously obedient. He was a splendid soldier and 
man in every respect. At Shiloh he fought most bravely. 
During the siege of Corinth he fell ill, was taken to 
General Field Hospital, at Monterey. Tenn. (between 
Shiloh Church and Corinth), and died of typhoid fever, 
.June 1, 1862, I think, while being transported from Mon- 
terey to Pittsburg Landing, at the latter place." 

SAMUEL MARDIS, 

Age, twenty-nine ; residence. Agency Prairie, Lee Town- 
ship, Polk County, Iowa; native of Illinois; enlisted Jan. 
uary 20, 1862, and died of mumps, in steamboat hospital, 
June 1, 1862, at Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., and was buried 
on the hill at the Landing. He participated in the battle 
of Pittsburg Landing, April 6th and 7th, 1862. He was a 
kind husband and father — greatly attached to his family. 
He left a wife and six children. " A faithful soldier and 
good man," says Captain Studer, " anxious to perform his 
duties thoroughly. When he enlisted he left behind him a 
wife and several small children, wholly depending on him 
for support. He was a high-minded soldier, knew no fear, 
was kind and courteous and very pleasant among all. At 
Shiloh he fought most bravely, remaining with his company 
throughout that battle." 

Lieutenant Wilkins's testimony is the same as that of 
Captain Studer. 



COMPANY B, FIFTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 219 

JASPER N. NEWLAND, 

Age, twenty-seven ; accredited in the Adjutant's Report 
to Polk County; native of Ohio; enlisted Jan. 10, 1862; 
died July 1, 1862. ''A good, sturdy soldier," says Lieuten- 
ant Reese Wilkins ; and Captain Studer says, — " A good, 
quiet, faithful soldier ; never said an unkind word to his 
companions ; a religious man ; a Methodist. He would 
get down on his knees and pray, unmindful of jeers or 
scoffs. Fought bravely in the battle of Shiloh. Died at 
Monterey, Tenn., of typhoid fever." 

SERGEANT WILLIAM STANBERRY, 

Brother of Mr. Samuel Stanberry, of East Des Moines, 
Polk County, with whom he was engaged in business before 
the war, having lived in Des Moines about three years. 
He, with five of his brothers, were in the Union Army — 
all enlisting from Ohio, but William ; four of them lost 
their lives — two ui battle and two by sickness. 

" William Stanberry (native of Ohio, resident of Des 
Moines) existed (says Captain A. G. Studer) September 
25, 1861, with all the spirit and ardor of a true patriot. 
At the time of enlistment he was the father of an interest- 
ing family. From the very day of enlistment he evinced 
great anxiety to become proficient in drill and discipline, 
was prompt and ever ready to obey. He was of a hilarious 
spirit, very good-natured, and thus influenced often many 
of the company who were despondent or homesick, to 
abandon such ideas. He was chosen as sergeant when the 
company was mustered, November 9, 1861, and proved him- 
self at all times thereafter, a valuable and efficient non- 
commissioned officer. In the battle of Shiloh he conducted 
himself with coolness and bravery, never left his company 
command during the two days' fighting, called many a man 
separated from his command to rally, and, in short, was 
anxious, under all circumstances, to perform his duties 



220 AMERICAX PATRIOTISM. 

faithfully and well. He was alike esteemed by officers and 
men, and ever ready to assist a sick or afflicted comrade. 
Few such soldiers as Will Stanberry could be found in the 
service. He continued faithfully to perform his duty till the 
latter part of June, 1862, when he was seized with conges- 
tive fever, and expired at Corinth, Miss., July 5, 1862, after 
a short illness, most cordially and deeply lamented by all 
who knew him. Every soldier of Company B will ever 
cherish the memory of Will Stanberry." 

Says Lieutenant Reese Wilkins : — " Stanberry was re- 
markably kind to his sick comrades ; when he made friends 
he never forsook them ; a man of very kind heart and 
self-sacrificing." 

LEROY S. CONNER, 

Age eighteen ; residence Des Moines ; native of Indiana ; 
private ; enlisted Dec. 21, 1861 ; discharged August 2, 1862, 
at Quincy, 111., for disability, and died after he had been at 
home about two weeks. When he came home he was so 
thin that he could be carried in the arms of one of his sis- 
ters. While sick at Quincy, 111., Mrs. J. B. Pa^jsh, a very 
kind lady, took him into her own house and nursed him 
with the most tender care. When Leroy had returned 
home, this Christian woman wrote to him : — 

" Dear Leroy, take the Bible for your guide, love Jesus, 
and all will be well with you, both in this world and in the 
world to come ; and, if not permitted to meet again in this 
changing and fleeting world, may we meet in heaven, there 
to enjoy the society of loved ones gone before. It is a happy 
thought to look forward to a coming world, where all pain 
shall cease, — every tear be wiped away, — and there meet 
father, mother, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters in one 
unbroken circle ; and there praise God eternally, — and, 
Leroy, you had a good mother, a praying mother, one who 
died in full faith in her Saviour's grace, and many is the 



COMPANY B, FIFTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 221 

petition her heart put forth to God for her motherless chil- 
dren, and they cannot be lost. I believe no such prayers 
are lost. The seed is sown, and it will spring up in due 
time and ripen. Her prayers follow you, dear child, and 
will be blessed to your eternal good." 

Mrs. Parish w^rites to a friend : — 

" I first became acquainted with Leroy shortly after the 
battle of Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. He, with other sick 
and wounded soldiers, was brought to Quincy and placed 
in the hospital. On the first day of arrival and before any 
comfortable accommodations could be made, a number of 
ladies with myself, volunteered to do all that we might to 
make the sick and wounded comfortable until better ar- 
rangements could be made. We carried in tea, toast, and 
other delicacies for the sick. My attention was attracted 
to Leroy. He seemed so young and delicate. I carried 
him his itieals for some weeks, until I got permission to 
take him to our house, and nurse him there. He was with 
us eight weeks. During his stay with us he read much in 
the Bible, and conversed freely of his hope in Christ. I 
often noticed, during religious services at the hospital, that 
he seemed very respectful and devotional. He never com- 
plained, and scarcely spoke of his sufferings on the battle- 
field. He was sun-struck at Pittsburg Landing, and brought 
here on a stretcher." 

Lieutenant Wilkins says : " He served his country as 
faithfully as he could; a good, lively boy, there was 
nothing bad about him." And Captain Studer says : 
'• Conner was a very good boy, and whenever placed on 
duty, was good as could be wished. He was intelligent, 
high-spirited, honorable. He fought at Shiloh like a good 
and brave soldier, fearless of danger." 



222 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 



JAMES H. MATHIAS 

Lived near Cory Grove, in Elkhart Township, Polk Co.. 
a well-to-do farmer ; left an interesting family of children, 
who have now neither father nor mother. " He was a good 
man, honest, faithful, and patriotic ; fought bravely in the 
battle of Shiloh ; was one of the few of his company to 
endure the fatigue and exposure of the siege of Corinth 
to the end of the campaign. Soon after the evacuation of 
Corinth he was taken sick," reports Captain A. G. Studer. 
Mathias's age, when he died, was thirty-two ; he was a 
native of Kentucky ; private ; enlisted Oct. 15, 1861 ; died at 
Jackson, Tenn., Sept. 3d, 1862, of disease. He told a 
companion to carry to his children the intelligence that he 
was fully prepared to die ; and to say to them in his name, 
" Be religious ; do right ; prepare to meet me in heaven." 

ANSON D. MORGAN, 
Age, twenty-nine ; residence Des Moines ; native #f Illinois ; 
private ; enlisted Oct. 22d, 1861 ; promoted to 3d corporal 
Aug. 6, 1862 ; died October 6, of wounds received at Cor- 
inth. " A good soldier, always ready for duty," says Lieu- 
tenant Wilkins. 

" Probably the most discipline-loving soldier in the 
company ; faithful and brave ; fought with great coolness 
and courage ; had a strong constitution and did not be- 
come subject to prevailing diseases to any great extent. In 
the battle of Corinth, Oct. 3, 1862, he fought bravely, and 
was mortally wounded — shot in the breast. He was left on 
the field, and died in the hands of the enemy. He left a 
family," says Captain Studer. 



COMPANY B, FIFTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 223 



DAVID ROSS WINTERS. 

When I reach the name of one who, like David Winters, 
was one of my school-fellows, a companion of my boyhood 
days, and an acquaintance and friend for many years, my 
heart assists my pen, and yet I feel how barren are my 
words in yielding a tribute for the young life given away. 
To surrender life in the morning of youth — to die and be 
buried in the earth in defense of country — is a sacrifice the 
greatness of which we do not realize. We cannot bestow 
too much gratitude, let us be ever so liberal. I adore the 
memory of the soldiers. Poor men ! bleeding and suffer- 
ing ; starving in prison ; dying in hospitals, away from 
home and loved ones — for me and for my children ; for 
you and for yours, reader ! 

David Ross Winters was born near Steuben ville, Ohio, 
Oct. 15, 1842 — son of Mr. Martin Winters, of Des Moines, 
He came to this city with his parents in October, 1853, and 
it was during the winter of 53-4 that I first became 
acquainted with him, meeting him in the school-room. 
Many of the old residents of Des Moines remember how- 
well David used to speak in Mr. Nash's school exhibitions 
in the old Court-house. I remember well with what energy 
he recited, on one occasion, the eulogy of Lafayette, begin- 
ning : " Pile to the clouds the majestic column of glory ; 
let the lips of those who can speak well, hallow the spot 
where the bones of your bold repose." 

His mother says he always delighted in reading of heroes. 
He pored over the pages which record the acts of Captain 
Smith, and of adventurers among the Indians. His favorite 
books were the lives of Washington and Napoleon, which 
he read through a great many times. He has said often 
that he was sorry he did not live in those days, to serve 
under Washington or Napoleon. As soon as the Rebellion 
began he was anxious to enter the service ; but, on account 
of being afflicted with rheumatism, his application to enlist 



224 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

in Company D, 2d Iowa Infantry, was rejected. He finally 
succeeded in being taken into Company B, loth Iowa, and 
says Captain Stiider : — 

" He was a most excellent and dutiful soldier in every 
respect, and a splendid young man. Kind, noble, generous, 
of a jovial disposition, he was a friend among all. To 
alleviate and nurse his suffering comrades, watching at their 
bedside by night, yet doing duty by day, was a pleasure to 
him. While I was lying very ill of typhoid fever in our 
camp, south of Corinth, this noble boy nursed me and 
waited on me with the tenderness and devotion of a son or 
brother. I will ever gratefully remember him. He be- 
haved well at Shiloh, performed faithful duty without inter- 
ruption during the siege of Corinth, took part in all the 
marches and duties of the regiment thereafter up to the 
battle of Corinth, where bravely and stubbornly fighting 
(Oct. 3, 1862), he received a gunshot wound in his right 
arm, among the foremost in the battle. Afler being 
wounded he refused to be sent to hospital, and had not the 
surgeon's orders been peremptory, he would have remained 
with the company, and, perhaps, have been a well man to- 
day. His death was deeply regretted throughout the com- 
pany." 

He died Oct. 19, 1863, at Mound City, 111., in hospital. 

SERGEANT GEORGE L. REES. 

The following memoir of Sergeant Rees was written by 
Captain A. G Studer : — 

" George L. Rees (native Ohio, residence Polk County) 
enlisted at Des Moines, Sept. 25, 1861. Learned his drill 
duties well and fast; showed good taste, love of discipline, 
and excellent conduct. Was chosen seventh corporal. He 
took part in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth, and was 
conspicuous for great bravery and thorough obedience ; a 



COMPANY B, FIFTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 225 

cool, collected, and brave soldier — no trifling about him. 
To the best of my recollection, he was with his command 
in all the marches and sieges until his death. Was pro- 
moted to fourth sergeant Sept. 15, 1862. Died of small- 
pox, after a short illness, during the siege of Vicksburg, 
Feb. 3, 1863, deeply lamented by his comrades in arms, 
not only as a good soldier and patriot, but as a very good 
moral man — a pattern to his companions. I never, even 
under the most trying circumstances, knew him to express 
even a murmur." 

Lieutenant Wilkins says : — 

" Rees was a remarkably good soldier. At the battle of 
Corinth he happened to get into Company G. They were 
firing near our own men. * Be careful,' said the captain, 
' and do not shoot our own men.' ' Never mind that,' said 
Rees, 'I take too good aim.' He was one of the coolest 
soldiers I ever saw in my life." 

JOHN S. GREENE 

Was well known before the war as one of the best 
school teachers in Polk County, and remarkable as a good 
disciplinarian. He wrote a great many communications 
for the "Iowa School Journal" during the years 1859 and 
1860. He was well educated, and self-educated. He 
had been a factory-boy in his native State, Connecticut; 
came West, and was rapidly working his way up to in- 
fluence and usefulness. He enlisted Nov. 9, 1861. Says 
Captain Studer: — 

" Greene exhibited, from the day of enlistment, great in- 
clination to become a good and thorough soldier in all the 
branches. During his leisure hours, unlike most other 
soldiers, he studied tactics and army regulations. His 
conduct was exemplary, and he was a good scholar ; hence 
15 



226 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

he was made sergeant. He remained with his company 
from the day he entered the field, conducting himself well 
on the field of battle, on the march, and in every kind of 
duty. Owing to his scholarship, he often rendered valu- 
able service in the company. He took part in the battles 
of Shiloh, Corinth, and several skirmishes. Was promoted 
to first sergeant Nov. 1, 1862, but had acted as such for a 
considerable time previous. When the second lieutenancy 
became vacant, Captain Studer recommended Sergeant 
Greene for the position, which he received, to date Dec. 
17, 1862; but it did not go into effect before March 19, 
1863. He was with his company all through the siege of 
Vicksburg. After the fall of that city, he obtained leave 
of absence to go to Iowa ; but on his way home he was 
taken sick at St. Louis, and was sent to the hospital of the 
Sisters of Charity, where he expired Aug. 20, 1863. He 
was a true patriot and soldier, and as such should always 
be remembered." 

SAMUEL FOSTER, 
JOEL FOSTER, 

Were, I think, brothers. Both enlisted at the same time, 
Nov. 16, 1861. Natives of Ohio; residents of Rising Sun, 
Polk County. Samuel was eighteen, and Joel twenty-eight 
years of age. 

Samuel Foster died Jan. 29, 1864, at Vicksburg, Miss., 
of disease. " An excellent little soldier," says Lieutenant 
Reese Wilkins ; " he fought like a hero." And Captain A. 
G. Studer says : — 

" A good, honest, sturdy soldier ; one of the real yeo- 
manry. Never flinching ; did not know fear ; faithful, obe- 
dient ; ever ready and willing to perform his duties when 
and wherever required. He fought bravely at Shiloh. 
After that battle he was taken very ill, and his life was de- 
spaired of for some time. After the evacuation of Corinth 



COMPANY B, FIFTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 227 

he recovered, and took part in all the marches, sieges, and 
duties of the regiment, up to a few days previous to his 
death. He was sick but a short time, and died at the hos- 
pital at Vicksburg, Miss., Jan. 29, 1864, of chronic diarrhoea. 
At Corinth, Oct. 3, 1862, he was conspicuous for his brave 
and stubborn fighting. On the march he never straggled. 
His loss was severely felt and cordially lamented in the 
company." 

Joel Foster was discharged June 13, 1862, at Corinth, 
Miss., for disability, and died at home after a lingering ill- 
ness. 

" A very good man," says Captain Studer ; " and if health 
had permitted, would have made an efficient soldier. He 
was kind and amiable in his disposition. He did little duty 
in the army, on account of almost continual illness. He 
left a wife and child." 

CALVIN LLOYD 

Enlisted from Walnut Township, Polk County, Sept. 26, 
1861 ; age, twenty-seven; a native of Indiana. Died at St. 
Louis — date unknown to me. 
Says Captain Studer: — 

" A good man. Was taken sick after the battle of Shi- 
loh ; fought bravely there. A very stern, steady man ; had 
little to say ; of firm and determined nature ; faithful and 
dutiful." 

The name of one soldier belonging to Company B, and 
enlisting from Polk County, on the first organization of the 
company, and who doubtless lost his life, has been omitted 
in the foregoing record. Captain Studer kindly furnished 
the following history : — 



228 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 



"CORPORAL JACOB R. KELSEY, 

Resident of Des Moines, native of Ohio, was a splendid 
man, and one of the best and promptest non-commissioned 
officers in the regiment, wherever placed on duty. Some 
time previous to the departure of the regiment for the field, 
he had a heavy attack of typhoid fever, at Keokuk, hence 
was not enabled to participate in the battle of Shiloh ; but 
■shortly thereafter returned to his company, and performed, 
without interruption, faithful duty up to the battle of Corinth, 
after which battle he was never seen or heard of again. The 
fight being for some time most desperate, and the regiment 
under a heavy cross-fire, and nearly flanked, and the order 
having been given three times by General Crocker for the 
regiment to fall back on a new line before it was executed 
(such was the ardor of the men), this soldier fell, most 
probably wounded, into the hands of the enemy, and must 
have been carried away by them on their precipitate re- 
treat, when he must have died, or been abandoned dying. 
At any rate, he was borne on the roll of the company as 
missing to the end of the war, and no clew of him could 
be obtained. If any man should endeavor to tarnish this 
soldier's record by saying that he perhaps went over to the 
enemy in that battle, I can no more than scorn such an 
idea, because he was too patriotic, faithful, and brave a man 
to be guilty of such a charge, all the more because a dis- 
charge from the service had been repeatedly offered to him 
w^hile sick in hospital at Keokuk, which at all times he most 
emphatically refused to accept, saying that he enlisted to 
fight Rebels, and that he was bound to do it." 



LEVI WELLS, 
A RECRUIT accredited to Des Moines, Polk County, age, 
twenty-six, native of Illinois ; enlisted March 22d, 1864 ; 
wounded in left shoulder, at Atlanta, July 23, 1864 ; died 
August 12, 1864, at Rome, Ga., of wounds. 



COMPANY B, FIFTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 229 



MOSES J. H. PARKER 
Lived near Lavish Grove, in Polk County, Iowa ; left 
a wife and children ; was sent forward as a recruit October, 

1864 ; accompanied Sherman's army on its march through 
Georgia, South and North Carolina and Virginia ; was 
discharged; lay sick for some time in Davenport; came 
home, and died in three days after his return, July 15, 

1865 ; — born in Huntington County, Penn., May 23, 1827. 
He was a member of the Christian Church, a Freemason 
and Odd Fellow, and a good citizen. He belonged to Com- 
pany A, 15th Iowa Infantry. 

FRANKLIN SPOTS, 
Resident of Saylor Township, Polk County, where his 
father now resides; a recruit; joined the army Oct. 3, 
1864, after a residence in Polk County, Iowa, of about 
ten years. He was assigned to Company H, 15th Iowa 
Infantry, and served until July 4, 1865, when he died of 
disease at Nashville, Tenn. He was born in Erie County, 
Penn., July 4, 1841. At home, a hard-working farmer boy ; 
in the army, a dutiful soldier. I was well acquainted with 
Franklin Spots, and always held him in high esteem. He 
had many friends in the neighborhood where he lived ; 
and I think he had no enemies. 



COMPANY B, SIXTEENTH IOWA VOLUNTEERS. 

LEVI R HESTER, 

A PRIVATE in Company B, 16tli Iowa Infantry Volunteers ; 
age, twenty-seven ; residence, Des Moines (according to the 
Reports of Adjutant- General of Iowa) ; native of Indiana ; 
went into quarters Oct. 10, 1861 ; mustered into United 
States service, Dec. 11, 1861 ; died Oct. 12, 1862, of wounds 
received at luka. 



COMPANY F, SIXTEENTH IOWA VOLUNTEERS. 

JOHN W. DEWEY 

Enlisted as a private in Company F, 16th Iowa, Janu- 
ary 27, 18G2, and was promoted to Quartermaster-Sergeant 
of the regiment. The following was written by the late 
Lieutenant Madison R. Laird, of the same company : — 

" John W. Dewey was in the battle of Shiloh, on the 6th 
and 7th of April, 1862; in the siege of Corinth, during 
April and May, 1862 ; in the battle of luka, September 
19, 1862 ; in all of the marches and skirmishes of the reg- 
iment until the 8th of February, 1863, when he was pro- 
moted to quartermaster-sergeant. He served during the 
campaign that reduced Vicksburg, and after this he reen- 
listed as a veteran volunteer, and with his regiment joined 
Sherman's army at Big Shanty, Ga. He was engaged 
with it in all of the skirmishes and battles in front of Ken- 
esaw Mountain, where he was killed July 7th, 1864, by the 
explosion of a shell from the rebel batteries in front of 
Nickojack works." 

The following particulars of the manner of his death 
are given by Lieutenant Hope, Quartermaster 16th Iowa, 
in a letter written to Colonel Dewey of Des Moines : — 

" He was on duty at the time — evening July 7th, at 7 
o'clock. The Rebels commenced shellinsf our works — 
the heaviest shelling I ever experienced. A shell bursted 



232 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

near us, one piece hitting John in the left side, and another 
small piece in the head, killing him instantly. Either 
wound would have caused death. He was not mangled 
except in the side, and when laid out he had more the ap- 
pearance of being asleep than dead. John was a great 
favorite in the whole regiment. Many were the tears shed 
by the group of friends gathered round, when at midnight 
the coffin was consigned to the grave. Colonel Sanders, 
though accustomed to look on death, on seeing John's 
remains, wept like a child." 

He was very companionable, and made many friends. I 
am not aware that he had any enemies except the enemies 
of his country. General Crocker always spoke of him in 
the most complimentary terms. It was through the in- 
fluence of General Crocker that he was promoted. Had 
Dewey lived, still higher promotion awaited him. 

Born in Westfield, Mass., his early life was mainly spent 
in Lebanon, N. H., his home for many years. He received 
a very good academical education. Came to Iowa in 1850, 
at twenty years of age ; thought of entering into the 
practice of law with his uncle, J. N. Dewey, of Des Moines, 
but the gold excitement took him to the mountains in 
1860. He returned to Des Moines in the fall of the same 
year; taught a term of school during the winter; re- 
turned to Colorado in the spring of 1861 ; came to Des 
Moines again in the fall, and began recruiting a company 
for the 16th Iowa, himself enlisting as a private. 

After the battle of Shiloh, he spent a few weeks in Des 
Moines on sick leave, and resumed his place again in the 
ranks ; returned again to Des Moines on a few weeks' fur- 
lough after the capture of Vicksburg. 

He was hopeful and cheerful ; bore misfortune with the 
composure of a philosopher ; he made the best of every- 
thing ; a man of strict morals. 



COMPANY F, SIXTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 233 

LIEUTENANT MADISON E. LAIRD. 

If it were not beyond the bounds of possibility, every 
man from Polk County who took up arms vokmtarily in 
defense of his country, would be mentioned at length in 
these pages — the living as well as the dead. Madison R. 
Laird lived to see the end of the rebellion ; returned home, 
and engaged in the peaceful pursuits of life ; after a brief 
sojourn amongst his friends and kindred at home, yielded 
up his life, and was consigned to the " narrow house pre- 
pared for all living," respected and honored for what he 
had done and suffered in the cause of his country ; a good 
citizen, and a true patriot, his death was lamented by all 
who knew him, and he was widely known. Died Dec. 3, 
1866. The following obituary notice appeared in the col- 
umns of the " Daily State Register," of the morning of 
Dec. 4th : — 

" Lieutenant Madison R. Laird, a faithful officer of the 
16th Iowa Infantry, died in this city yesterday morning. 
He was in different prisons of the South for nine months, 
and it was while in the prison at Columbia, that he received 
the glad news of his exchano;e. He made two unsuccess- 
ful efforts to escape and reach our lines. The last time he 
got in sight of our gun-boats, but only to have his joyous 
anticipations of liberty and reunion with friends blasted 
by the sudden appearance of his pursuers, who returned 
him to bondage. It was in prison that he contracted 
the disease from which he never recovered, and yester- 
day morning he passed to his final home. The funeral will 
take place to-day in accordance with a notice in another 
column. Let all soldiers and friends of soldiers attend, 
aud pay the last tribute of respect to the departed." 

Born in Dalton, Wayne County, Ohio, August 3, 1833 ; 
came to Des Moines, June, 1854 ; engaged in business with 



234 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

the firm of Laird Brothers ; was also surveyor and civil 
engineer. In 1860 and 1861 he was in Colorado ; has- 
tened home to enlist in the service of his country, express- 
ing a regret that he was not here to enter the first com- 
pany organized; enlisted as a private in Company F, 16th 
Iowa, December 18, 1861 ; was elected second sergeant ; 
fought bravely in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, and luka ; 
was severely wounded in the left side, a little above the 
heart (the ball glancing from his ribs), in the battle of 
luka, Sept. 19, 1862 ; reenlisted as a veteran, January, 
1864; was taken prisoner near Atlanta, in battle, July 22, 
1864 ; exchanged, March, 1865. His escape from prison in 
company with Captain John H. Turner, and three other 
Federal officers, and their recapture, would form a very in- 
teresting history. They were treated with great kindness 
by the negroes in their attempted escape. 

Madison R. Laird was commissioned Second Lieutenant 
of Company F, 16th Iowa, Jan. 12, 1863 ; mustered out 
at the close of the war. May 15, 1865. On the front of the 
beautiful monument erected to his memory by the Laird 
Brothers, is inscribed, — 

" MADISON." 

On the reverse : — 

" M. R. LAIRD, 

LIEUTENANT COMPANY F, 16TH IOWA INFANTRY, 

Bom at Dalton, Ohio, Aug. 3, 1833. 

Fought at the battle of Shiloh ; 

Severely wounded at luka ; 

Taken prisoner at Atlanta ; 

Eight months in Rebel Prisons ; 

DiedDec. 4, 1866." 

Of the many letters written home by Lieutenant Laird, 
the following is the only one which has come into my 
hands. It was directed to his brother, J. M. Laird, and is 
descriptive of the battle of Shiloh : — 



COMPANY F, SIXTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 235 

Pittsburg Landing, April Sth, 1864. 

Dear Brother, — The great fight is over, and 1 am 
still in the land of the living ; which is more than I can 
say of thousands who were well on Sunday morning. We 
arrived jiere on Friday night last, and on Sunday at 10 a. 
M., we were led into the fight. To give you a description 
of the battle would take more paper than I have at my 
command. 

The attack was made by the Rebels, who must have had 
an immense force. They drove us inch by inch toward 
the river until about 4 o'clock, p. m., when General Buell 
came in. He had no men with him but a few of his body 
guard ; but he rode along the lines, calling on the boys for 
God's sake to hold the Rebels in check for two hours 
lonoer, until his reinforcements could cross the river. 
These reinforcements came none too soon. We held our 
position until night, and lay on our arms in line of battle 
until morning. It rained heavily all night. 

During the night. General BuelFs forces were crossing 
the river, and fast as they came over, they formed in line 
of battle. When morning came, the Rebels commenced 
the attack with the greatest fury. They thought they had 
a sure thing on us, and were surprised at the warm recep- 
tion with which they were met. They commenced to re- 
treat about 11 o'clock, which soon turned into a total rout. 
The slaughter was then immense. The troops who were 
in the first day's fight, were not in the hottest part of the 
fight on Monday, as they were completely exhausted. They 
were, however, brought out in line to act as a reserve, and 
many of the boys lay right down in the line and went to 
sleep when the shells were momentarily bursting over their 
heads. 

" Where the Rebels are now, I am unable to say ; but I 
have no doubt that General Buell is punishing them wher- 
ever they are. Our regiment lost about 150 in killed and 
wounded. James Devault was wounded in the arm, but. 



236 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

not dangerously. I never received a scratch, but such a 
whistling of balls was not desirable to hear. I was over 
the field of battle the next day, and have no anxiety to go 
over it again. It was a horrible sight ; but a soldier soon 
gets used to anything. ^ 

THOMAS J. ALLAWAY, 

Accredited to Des Moines in the reports of the Adju- 
tant-General of Iowa, though I find none of his relatives ; 
age, eighteen ; native of Illinois ; private ; enlisted Feb. 28, 
1862 ; died July 7, 1862, at Vicksburg, Miss., of disease. 



COMPANY K, SIXTEENTH IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

J. F. EEDMAN, 
Age, twenty-five; residence, Cory Grove, Polk County, 
Iowa; native of Ohio; enlisted Feb. 14, 1862, and died 
September 7, 1862, at Bolivar, Tenn., of disease. An in- 
telligent, upright young man ; he had been a resident of 
Iowa about ten years ; had many friends ; was universally 
respected. I knew him myself personally. No soldier 
ever went to the front wdth more patriotic intentions and 
motives. He had no desire but to serve his country, in her 
hour of need. One of the purest and best. He fought 
bravely in the battle of Shiloh : "■ As good a soldier as 
ever shouldered a musket," says a comrade (John A. 
Emery) ; " when he found that he could not get well, he 
became reconciled, and said that ' he was prepared to die, 
and wished his friends to prepare to meet him in heaven.' 
He always did his duty faithfully. He was kind to his 
comrades, and had no enemies except the enemies of his 
country." 



COMPANY B, SEVENTEENTH IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

WILLIAM M. GIPSON, 

Age, nineteen ; native of Ohio ; private (date of enlistment 
not given) ; died April 23d, 1862, of disease, at Keokuk. He 
was working in Des Moines when he enlisted. Where his 
relatives reside I do not know. 

AMOS KISER. 

KiSER lived in Des Moines ; a good soldier ; killed at 
Jackson, Miss., May 14, 1863. He went forward to help 
fill up the decimated ranks ; received a fatal wound ; some 
of his comrades paused to watch over him. " I am killed," 
he said. " Go on ! " Native of New York ; friends live in 
Minnesota; enlisted March 8, 1862. 

FRANCIS M. WAKEFIELD, 

Accredited to Des Moines ; age, twenty- five ; native of 
Indiana ; private ; enlisted Feb. 25, 1862 ; died Jan. 1, 
1864, at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Mo., of disease. No 
relatives in Polk County as I can ascertain. 

Since writing the above I have learned that Wakefield 
lived in Des Moines ; was a married man. (Mrs. W. now 
lives in Marion County.) An honest, good-hearted, moral 
man ; highly esteemed in his company ; was a good sol- 
dier. 



COMPANY B, SEVENTEENTH lOAVA INFANTRY VOLS. 239 

WILSON KICKABAUGH, 

Son of one of the early settlers of Polk County, and a 
brother-in-law of Lieutenant Francis M. Ross, of ComiDany 
D, 3d Iowa Cavalry ; enlisted Feb. 11, 1862, at the age of 
eighteen, from the pure motives of patriotism and desire to 
do his duty ; he died at Corinth, Miss., of disease, in July, 
1862 ; having been in the service only about five months. 
He was a patriotic, industrious, and kind-hearted young 
man. His father, an aged man, now lives in Des Moines. 
The loss of this cherished boy was a grievous loss to him, 
for Wilson loved his father tenderly, and cared for him as 
a son should for a deserving father in tfie decline of life — 
" the staff of his father's declining years." 

Wilson's brother Charles was a member of the First 
Missouri Cavalry, and served in the Federal army three 
years. He was eleven months a prisoner of war in the 
hands of the enemy. Before the war he belonged to the 
regular army. By the treachery of his officers his regi- 
ment was disbanded when the rebellion broke out, and 
July, 1861, found Charles at Memphis, Tenn., trying in 
vain to make his way northward to reach his home, and he 
was compelled to join the forces of the enemy. Deserting 
them after the battle of Pea Ridge, he reached the Union 
lines at Cassville, Missouri. He enlisted in the service of 
his country and carried his sabre three years, a true and 
faithful soldier. 

Upon a tombstone in the cemetery at Des Moines is in- 
scribed : — 

" WILSON, 

Son of J. and P. Rickabaugh, 
Died in the service of the United States, 
Corinth, Miss., July 11, 1862, 
Aged 17 years, 11 months, and 4 days. " 



240 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 



MAHLON FREEMAN, 

Age, twenty-two ; residence, East Des Moines ; native of 
Indiana; enlisted Feb. 25, 1862; was taken prisoner, and 
lay in rebel prison pens until he was near dying, when he 
was exchansred and sent to Baltimore. He reached home 
and sufFere(fl a while longer, when death came to his relief, 
August 10, 1865. I knew Freeman well. He w^as a man 
of good morals, and a kind heart, honest and brave. He 
was in the line of promotion, and was ever at his post of 
duty. He died from the effects of his imprisonment. He 
left many friends. 

DANIEL HARDS AW 

Was wounded and captured at Jackson, Miss., May 14, 
1863. His leg was amputated, and he died in the hands of 
the enemy. His friends do not know the facts in reference 
to where or when he died and was buried. He was born 
in Elkhart County, Ind., near the town of Goshen ; had 
been a resident of Jefferson Township, Polk County, Iowa, 
fifteen years at the time of his entering the army. He 
died at the age of twenty. He was a professor of religion 
— a Methodist. Lieutenant Alexander M. Charters, of 
Company B, 17th Iowa, says of him, " He was a good, faith- 
ful soldier, ready for duty when called upon, and fought like 
a hero until shot down by the enemy." He entered the 
service May 10, 1862. 



COMPANY K, SEVENTEENTH IOWA VOLUN- 
. TEERS. 

JOHN W. M. YOUNG, 
Born in Hebron, N. H., May 17, 1829, had lived in Des 
Moines, Iowa, six years, when he enlisted April 7, 1862. 
First corporal of the company, he was an earnest, patriotic 
soldier; left a wife and family of small children in Des 
Moines. He was a good man, a kind husband and father ; 
a well known citizen of Des Moines, and a man of good 
education. He was a brother of Madison Young, Esq., 
of this city. Corporal Young died of consumption, at Keo- 
kuk, Iowa, Sept. 8, 1862, having been in the army about 
six months. 



16 



COMPANY G, EIGHTEENTH IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

WILLIAM J. McCOY, 

Age, twenty-eight ; residence, Avon, Polk County ; native 
of Pennsylvania ; private ; enlisted July 14, 1862 ; died 
Feb. 9, 1863, at Springfield, Mo., of pneumonia. He was 
a good citizen and a dutiful soldier. Mrs. McCoy is not 
now living in this county, and I have not been able to obtain 
any other particulars in reference to the life of this soldier. 



COMPANY I, EIGHTEENTH IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

NATHAN THORNTON, 

Son of Mr. Riley H. Thornton, of Douglas Township, Polk 
County, Iowa, was born in Vermilion County, 111., May 17, 
1845, and came with his parents to Polk County, in July of 
the same year. Enlisted in Company I, 18th Iowa In- 
fantry, July 10, 1862, being then a little past seventeen. 
Died Sept. 21, 1862, at Sedalia, Mo., of measles, having 
been in the service about two months. He writes : — 

" Sedalia, Sejn. 3, 1862. 
" Mt dear Parents, — I wrote you that I had the 
measles at Clinton, but I think it must have been a mis- 
take, for I have had it good since I came here. I am at 
the hospital now ; but I think I will leave here before long, 
for I am about well again. Though weak, I walk about 
town once in a while. I do not dare to eat what I crave, 
for fear of the measles coming back again, and the last 
state is worse than the first. One of the boys in the hos- 
pital where I am went to eating trash when he had begun 
to get well, and the measles came back on him and he 
died. Two men of our regiment have died since we came 
into camp, one with measles." 

He says to his little brothers : — 

"You must be good boys, work hard, and mind what 
father and mother tell you, and go to meeting whenever 
you can ; behave yourselves properly in company, and 
keep in boys' place, and grow up to be respected." 

He was a noble boy, and strove to do his duty as a Chris- 



244 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

tian. He says to his mother, in a letter written from Clin- 
ton, — " You must pray[for me often ; for I have a hard 
time to serve God where I am." 

Though so young, he realized fully the obligations of Amer- 
ican citizens to defend their country. Says his father : — 

" Nathan had a notion of enlisting ever since the war 
began. I opposed it on account of his age, until I thought 
he knew what hardships he would have to endure. He 
said that he could do as much work on the farm as a man, 
and that he could do as much in the army. ' If I were 
there,' he said, '• I would be one more to help.' I told 
him then to go, understanding his duty, and what he might 
have to suffer. It took men, he said, to support the gov- 
ernment, and he was no better, he thought, than the rest." 

He was temperate, never drinking coffee nor eating 
meat ; was always quite lively ; had not an enemy in the 
world ; was polite in his manners ; loved his little brothers 
and sisters dearly ; was obedient to his parents ; was kind- 
hearted. " It seemed," said his mother, " that I could 
never give up for him to go ; but he would never be satis- 
fied without going." If he had lived he would have made 
a good soldier. He was a congenial companion ; a studious 
and trustworthy boy. His father could intrust to him any 
affairs, and go from home, leaving his work in Nathan's 
hands, knowing that it would be well attended to. 

JASON L. ELLIS 
Writes to his parents : — 

"Five Miles from Springfield, Mo., >Sep/. 7, 1862. 
" It was to help put down this Rebellion that I came into 
the army. I am going to do my best. The longer I am 
in the service, the better I like it, I hope I may continue 
to like it until the end. Father, I hope you are not sorry 
because I went ; ma, I hope you are gratified that you had 



COMPANY I, EIGHTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 245 

a son that was willing to take up his cross and help sustain 
the good old flag, that was purchased by the blood of our 
forefathers in the time of Washington. Last summer, 
while I was reading the history of the Revolution, it made 
me feel as though I had ought to be in the field helping to 
sustain the glorious Union." 

" FoKT BtiowN, Springfield, Mo., Feb. 4, 1863. 
" Some scamp stole my blanket when we were at Osage 
Springs, the night that it snowed go hard. [^That was a 
dear night to me. It was a cold night in December. We 
had no overcoats ; they were left behind with the teams. A 
thin blouse was a poor protection. I had to lie down on 
the frozen ground and take it. I was so tired that I dropped 
to sleep, and slept an hour or so. When I awoke I was 
almost frozen. That was the only time I ever wished that 
I was back home. I would have given everything if I 
could only have been by our stove that night, and had a 
cup of warm coffee. I was very hungry, — had had nothing 
to eat since morning, and we got nothing till the next day." 

February 10. 
" I don't want to come home until this war is ended. I 
hope that I will be spared to see its termination ; but it is 
very uncertain 

" Camp life is a very hard place to keep from evil ; but 
if you ever hear of me swearing, or playing cards, or drink- 
ing whiskey, you must not own me for your brother ; but I 
don't think you will ever hear such a report." 

EXTRACT FROM HIS DIARY. 

"July 19, 1862, 1 enlisted in Captain Ragan's company at 
Des Moines. July 24th, I was sworn into the State service 
with George Garrett, John Stockdale, and Owen Kinsman. 
All of the girls came up to see us sworn in. We had 
fine times that day. We left Des Moines for Clinton, Sun- 
day, 27th, at 2 p. M. ; reached Clinton, Tuesday, 29th, at 2 



246 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

P. M. Sworn into United States service, Aug. 9th. Aug. 
11th, pulled up stakes and started for St. Louis; reached 
Davenport at sundown ; such cheering from the people I 
never heard before ; were cheered at Rock Island, also ; 
reached Muscatine at midnight ; cheering again ; reached 
Burlington at 6 a. m. ; Keokuk at 3 p. m. Five miles 
below Keokuk is Alexandria, Mo. ; no cheering. Reached 
Hannibal, midnight, Aug. 16th ; St. Louis, Aug. 17th, at 10 
p. M. Aug. 18th, hot day ; marched to Benton Barracks ; 
about fifty of our men gave out. Aug. 21st, left St. 
Louis for Sedalia, on the cars ; reached Sedalia Aug. 22d, 
at 5 p. M. Aug. 30, left Sedalia for Springfield, Mo. Sept. 
4th, near Bolivar, took one hundred and fifty secesh pris- 
oners. Sept. 5th, camped five miles from Springfield, at 
Camp Edwards. Sept. 11th, rained all day, hard ; moved 
our tents to a higher spot of ground ; got plenty of straw 
and put in our tents. It began to rain harder than ever ; 
overflowed our camp ; water in our tents two feet deep. 
Sept. 12, set up all night with a sick soldier who had con- 
gestive chills. I got some mustard and whiskey ; put on 
mustard plaster, and bathed him in whiskey ; in the morn- 
ing he was better. Sunday 14th, marched into Springfield ; 
in the evening we had preaching by our chaplain. Sept. 
15th, at work cutting down timber and building entrench- 
ments. Monday, Sept. 29th, we left Springfield to face 
the enemy. Oct. 3d, in the evening, twelve miles from 
Mount Vernon ; ordered to march ; struck tents and got 
ready at 9 p. m. ; marched all night towards the enemy as 
fast as we could walk, and double-quick in part. At four 
in the morning we were fired into by bushwhackers. I 
with six of the boys of Company D had gone ahead of the 
regiment, in hopes that we might get a chance to rest ; when 
about a half mile ahead, up rode about one hundred Reb- 
els within ten rods of us, and ordered us to halt. They 
hallooed, ' Who are you ? ' We said, ' Union men ! ' 
' What's that you said ? ' they asked. ' We belong to the 



COMPANY I, EIGHTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 247 

18th Iowa/ we replied. Just at that moment they brought 
their horses into line and fired at us. ^Ye thought until 
then that they were our own cavalry scouts. We retreated 
through the brush about as fast as we could run. Our 
guns were not loaded. I tried to load mine running ; fell 
down two or three times ; tore my clothes ; skinned my 
nose ; bullets whizzed past my head. One struck my blan- 
ket, which was thrown round my shoulders, and tore a 
great hole in it. When we reached the regiment it was in 
line of battle. About three hundred Rebels fired into our 
regiment and wounded two men belonging to our com- 
pany, one mortally — Bradley Greene ; he lives in Des 

Moines. He is our sergeant When within 

eight miles of Newtonia we heard the cannons roaring. It 
was raining very hard ; on we went ; reached the battle- 
field ; Rebels formed in line north of town ; saw the Kan- 
sas troops advancing towards them, and they retreated 
towards us, but when they saw us they ran south as fast as 
they could go, throwing away guns, blankets, and ammuni- 
tion, burning up wagons, and destroying provisions. We 
went two days and nights without anything to eat but beef 
without salt. Oct. 8th, 11 a.m.. Brad. Greene died ; I 
with twelve others detailed to bury him ; buried him three 
fourths of a mile northwest of Newtonia ; raining very 
hard. Oct. 9th, following the Rebels in rain and mud. 
Oct. 11th, have them surrounded. Oct. 18th, in Arkansas ; 
camped on Pea Ridge battle-field. Oct. 27th, at Fayette- 
ville, Ark. Nov. 14th, reached Springfield again. Nov. 
19th, guarding prisoners in the court-house. Nov. 25th, 
detailed to guard prisoners to St. Louis ; reached St. Louis 
Dec. 3d. Returned to Springfield Dec. 25th. Jan. 12th, 
battle of Springfield, in which our regiment lost eight pri- 
vates, and two captains killed — Captains Vanmeter and 
Blue ; forty-seven wounded, two second lieutenants ; Gen- 
eral Brown was severely wounded. Jan. 9th, out in line all 
night. Feb. 12th, I was detailed for camp guard ; one of 



248 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

the guards shot himself through the arm ; our tents 
caught fire, and partially burned ; upwards of fifty prison- 
ers escaped ; it was a very dark night. Feb. 17 th, I was 
on camp guard. Feb. 18th, got some bark and made 
me some syrup. Feb. 23d, WTote a letter to father and 
mother." 

Jason L. Ellis died February 28, 1863. 

[From the Gospel Herald.] 
" Brother H : It becomes my painful duty to re- 
cord the death of my dear and affectionate brother, Jason 
L. Ellis, son of Walter and Clarissa Ellis. The deceased 
died in the hospital at Springfield, Mo., Feb. 28, 1863, at 
the age of 20 years, 4 months, and 2 days. He enlisted at 
Des Moines, July 19, 1862, in the 18th Iowa Regiment, 
and on the 27th of the same month, he bade us all a kind 
farewell, and started for the tented field. Manfully did he 
fight for his country until death called him away. His 
illness lasted but two days. His disease was pleurisy. 
He, with the rest of his company, made many long and 
rapid marches, endured many sufferings. He was in two 
skirmishes, and one battle, but came off unharmed. He 
leaves a father, mother, four brothers, and two sisters, 
besides a great many relatives and friends to mourn our 
loss. But 0, may our loss be his eternal gain. He was 
dearly beloved by his captain and all the rest of the sol- 
diers who knew him. He never made a public profession 
of religion, but I have had evidence enough to know that 
there was a peace within that this world can neither give 
nor take away. He is the first one of our family who 
has passed through death's dark and cold domains. And 
O, how hard it is to give him up : but as it is the Lord's 

will, we must submit. 

"MINERVA J. ELLIS." 
" Apple Gkove, Polk County, Iowa, June 12, 1863." 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-SECOND IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

ISAAC W. WINTERHALTER, 

Age, twenty-eight years, two months, and eight days, at 
the time of his death ; killed May 22, 1863, in the charge 
on the rebel works before Vicksburg, Miss, (or being 
wounded died in the hands of the enemy). A brave and 
good man ; a kind husband and father, and a true patriot ; 
left a wife and two children. He was a native of Virginia ; 
resident of Camp Township, Polk County, Iowa, where he 
had lived about five years, a respected citizen. He enlisted 
July 25, 1862. 

SAMUEL STORY, 

Was wounded in the shoulder at Vicksburg, Miss., May 22, 
1863, and (^ied May 26, 1863, in the hands of the enemy, 
who amputated his arm. He had passed unhurt through 
five severe engagements. Born in Brown County, Ohio ; 
had lived in Polk County, Iowa, six years, with Mr. Ed- 
ward Person, his brother-in-law, residing near Adelphi. 
Story had no enemies, and many warm friends. Enlisted 
July 25, 1862, aged twenty-two. 

JAMES P. McCULLOUGH, 
Age, twenty-seven ; residence on Camp Creek, at 
McCullough's Mills, in Camp Township, Polk County, 
Iowa ; native of Pennsylvania ; enlisted July 28, 1862 ; 
died on hospital boat Van Buren, near Milliken's Bend, La., 
June 23, 1863. These are all the facts that I have been 
able to collect concerning him. 



TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY, 

HISTORY. 

The Twenty-third Iowa Infantry Volunteers* was organ- 
ized at Des Moines, Iowa, during the fall of 1862, under 
the direction of Colonel William Dewey ; mustered into 
the United States service, Sept. 19, 1862. On the 20th a 
portion of the regiment left for Keokuk, and on the 26th, 
the remainder arrived at that jDlace. On the 28tli it em- 
barked for St. Louis, where it arrived the 30th, and re- 
ported to General Curtis, who ordered the regiment to 
Schofield Barracks, where it was quartered and kept on 
provost duty in the city until the 15th Oct., when it was sent 
to Patterson. While encamped there the regiment suffered 
severely with numerous camp diseases, and was engaged in 
several successful expeditions. Dec. 1st, the members of 
the regiment were called upon to mourn the loss of their 
able and gallant leader, Colonel Dewey. Dec. 20th, broke 
camp and started for Van Buren, Mo., and Jan. 14th 
started for West Plains, Mo., where they arrived with much 
difficulty on account of cold and rain. Returned to Pilot 
Knob, Feb. 25, 1863. It remained encamped at this point 
until March 9th, and then started for St. Genevieve ; and 
from there to New Madrid, Mo., and remained until March 
20th, and then embarked for Milliken's Bend, La. On the 
11th of April broke camp and proceeded via Richmond, 
La., to a point opposite Grand Gulf, Miss., and witnessed 
the bombardment of that place by the gun-boats ; and the 



TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 251 

next morning crossed over the Mississippi River, below 
Grand Gulf, and continued the march until after midnight, 
when the advance was fired on by the enemy's pickets. At 
eight o'clock, May 1st, the regiment was ordered to advance 
and charge down a hill on the enemy, who were partially 
concealed in a dense canebrake. Into this they went with 
fixed bayonets, and drove them from it. The regiment was 
under fire until three o'clock, when it made another charge 
and drove the Rebels back in such confusion that they 
could not make another stand that day. The regiment was 
held in reserve at Champion Hills until the afternoon, 
when they deployed as skirmishers. MayU7th, it started 
for Black River Bridge, where the enemy had a line of en- 
trenchments three miles long, with a deep bayou in front 
of them. Here the regiment signally distinguished itself 
by charging the enemy's works, and taking 2,500 prisoners. 
This result was not obtained without a heavy sacrifice ; 
Colonel Kinsman and Captain McCray were mortally 
wounded ; four other officers wounded, and 134 enlisted 
men killed and wounded. The regiment was then detailed 
to guard prisoners to Memphis, and on returning were 
stopped at Milliken's Bend to defend the place against an 
attack. Here they were attacked by 2,500 Texans, and had 
one of the most sanguinary struggles of the war, the regi- 
ment losing over half its number engaged. June 20th, re- 
turned to the rear of Vicksburg, and remained in the 
trenches until it surrendered. July 5th, started in pursuit 
of General Johnston, assisting in the capture of Jackson, 
driving the enemy across the river. The excessive heat 
and arduous toil told heavily on the regiment, and it re- 
turned to Vicksburg with 120 men for duty. Aug. 13th, it 
was transferred to the Department of the Gulf, and pro- 
ceeded to New Orleans. Sept. 4th, started with General 
Banks's Teche expedition as far as Opelousas, and then 
returned to New Orleans. Nov. 16th, they, in connection 
with other forces, embarked for the coast of Texas, and 



252 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

captured Fort Esperanza, on Matagorda Island. Jan. 16th 
the regiment went to Indianola, and remained there on 
outpost duty until March 14th, when it returned to Mata- 
gorda Island, and, April 26th, embarked for New Orleans, 
and was ordered to reinforce General Banks at Alexandria, 
La. It formed a junction with that army at Simms' Port, 
and returned with them to Morganza, La. July 13th, were 
ordered to proceed to St. Charles, Ark., and establish a post 
there. Aug. 6th, returned to Morganza, La. Oct. 11th, 
embarked for Duval's Bluff, Ark., and then marched to 
Brownsville. Returned to Duval's Bluff, and Jan. 7th, 
1865, embarked for Kenneville, La. The army being re- 
organized for a campaign against Mobile, the regiment took 
an active part in the siege and capture of Spanish Fort, 
landing at Mobile Point. After the fall of the city, the 
regiment was stationed in Mobile until in June, when it 
was again ordered to Texas. Landing at Galveston it pro- 
ceeded to the interior ; remained there until the latter part 
of July, 1865. The war being over, it was sent to Daven- 
port, Iowa, and mustered out. Of this regiment five com- 
panies were partly made up in Polk County — Companies 
A, B, C, E, and G ; Companies B and C almost entirely. 

And of these companies, and of the Twenty-third Regi- 
ment, the following are the names of citizens of Polk 
County who have received commissions in the companies or 
regiment : Charles J. Clark, Leonard B. Houston, William 
H. Ward, Matthew C. Brown, Robert W. Cross, William 
Merrill, Arthur J. Barton, Theodore G. Cree, Joel M. 
Walker, Stephen Waterbury, Henry Crabtree, Chauncey 
A. Williams, Francis Weitman, James C. Gregg, John A. 
T. Hull, Benjamin Jennings, Lyle A. Garrett, William H. 
Downs, William E. Houston. 

. The following are the names of the honored dead, former 
citizens of Polk County : — 



COMPANY A, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

CHARLES SUMMERS HEPBURN. 

No doubt many who read this record will remember the 
first academy ever opened in Des Moines. It was under 
the direction of the Rev. J. A. Nash, a man to whom 
the people of this city and county owe a lasting debt of 
gratitude for his labors in the cause of learning in our 
midst. 

This first academy was held in the old court-house, 
which has since yielded to the assaults of Time and passed 
away. There were assembled the pioneer boys and girls of 
Des Moines in 1853 — few in number. There we received 
the rudiments of knowledge. Where are those young peo- 
ple now ? Scattered far and wide. Some dwell amid 
the mountains of the West — in California, in Oregon, in 
Colorado — and some are in their graves. 

Charles and I were as brothers. We sat on the same 
seat together in school. Our place was behind the desk, 
where Judge McFarland sat when he held court. Here 
we were hidden from the teacher's view, and out of sight of 
all the scholars. We were in a " retired situation," afford- 
ing us good opportunity for study ; but which was improved 
mainly in mischief. Charles was happy. But to his life in 

the South : — 

" Camp Patterson, Nov. 30, 1862. 

" This has been a long day to me. The cause of it is 
the death of Colonel Dewey. He was as good an officer as 



254 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

there was in the army. Mr. Alfred Lyons will start home 
in the morning with Colonel Dewey's remains. He says that 
he intends to call on you before he returns to the army. I 
hope you will show him great respect, for he is one of the 
best men that ever lived." 

His letters were usually cheerful : — 

" Camp Pattekson, Oct. 28, 1862. 

" BPtOTHER Add. : — . . . .1 wish you could have 
seen our little darky crawl under the tent this morning 
when his mistress came into camp. But the Rebs are too 
much afraid of Colonel Dewey to ask for their darkies. I 
was singing 'Kingdom Coming' last night, and when I 
came to this part, — 

" ' We all expect to be confiscated 
"When the Lincoln soldiers come,' 

he laughed, and said that ' he had been waiting for the 
Lincoln soldiers.' " 

Charles was a good boy ; there was nothing bad about 
him. Wild and happy, but innocent of evil intentions, he 
was too happy to ever think very seriously of death or of 
religious matters until after he entered the service, and 
stood by so many in their last moments. 

"Patterson, Mo., Oct. 20, 1862. 
" Don't think, mother, that I am living not thinking that 
I have got to die. T read the Bible you gave me quite 
often, much oftener than when I was at home. I read 
three chapters to-day ; read your little note." 

His mother says in regard to the " little note," that when 
Charlie was about to start away with the regiment, after he 
had enlisted, " 0," said he, playfully, " I must have a Bible ; 
I am going soldiering." His mother said, " I have one for 



COMPANY A, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 255 

you, Charlie, — don't open it till you get down South." 
When he opened it there, he read in his mother's own 
handwriting the " little note " : — 

" Dear Charles, I give you this Bible, praying that you 
may read it with care, and treasure up its teachings in your 
heart." 

He had been sick previous to November 22, when he 
wrote : — 

" I am getting along finely, gaining every day. I took 
a ride this afternoon ; went away up on a high hill about 
a mile from where the troops are building a fort. I tell 
you they do work in a hurry. There are some four hun- 
dred men at work. One week ago you could not see ten 
rods for heavy timber, and now it is as level as a floor 
almost for two miles all around. 

" Tell ma that I am getting on finely, and not to be sorry 
about me. I have had my sick spell for this year." 

To his sister he wrote, December 4 : — 

" Sister, you wrote me a good letter, and gave me good 
advice. The army has had a tendency to make me a differ- 
ent boy. I read one chapter in my Bible every night, and 
then read the little note that mother wrote in it. You told 
me to do all that I could for the poor sick. It is an im- 
possibility to make them comfortable. I do all in my 
power for them. I intend to take good care of my own 
health, and if I shall be sjDared to come home, I want to 
come back a better man in every respect." 

He was very affectionate to his parents and dutiful, only 
anxious for their comfort and happiness. He would not 
have enlisted only he thought it his imperative duty. He 
thought that he could go better than any of the rest of the 



256 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

family. " Why," said he, " if some of us do not go I shall 
be ashamed of it as long as I live." He hired a man to 
take his place in the store of Keyes & Knight. When sick 
he did not wish his mother to hear how bad he was ; for it 
would be too much, he said, for her to bear. Major Hous- 
ton, writing to Addison Hepburn from Camp Patterson, 
Mo., says : — 

" I asked Charles if he wished me to say anything to you 
for him. He said, ' Tell Add. that I am not very sick.' 
He fears some one has written home his condition and 
caused his mother uneasiness. I promised that I would 
write as requested by him ; but I will also add a true state- 
ment of his condition. Charles is very sick, and has been 
for the last three days. I would have written sooner, but 
I hoped that he might get better. I haven't a friend on 
earth more dear to me, or one whose loss I would feel 
more keenly." 

The following is taken from the " Iowa State Register " of 
January 7, 1863 : — 

" Lieutenant J. A. T. Hull, of the 23d regiment, writes 
the following account of the death of Charlie Hepburn, 
which will be read with much interest : — 

" * On New Year's Day Charlie Hepburn died. Poor 
Charlie ! His life closed with the old year. He entered 
upon his new year in heaven. We mourn his loss sincerely ; 
for by his upright and gentlemanly conduct he had en- 
deared himself to us. He expressed a perfect trust in 
God, and believed that when his soul left its tenement of 
clay, it would wing its flight to the bosom of its God. 
He had been conscious for several days that his end was. 
approaching, but spoke of death with perfect calmness.' " 

His remains were sent on to Rolla, and there buried. 
After the campaign was over, when Charles had been dead 



COMPANY A, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 257 

two months, Major Houston being in RoUa, found his grave, 
took his body from the ground, and brought it in a metallic 
coffin to Des Moines. He is buried in the cemetery here, 
and a beautiful marble monument stands over his crrave, 
erected by his parents. On it is inscribed, — 

"CHARLIE, 
Son of James and Roxana Hepburn, 
Born in the village of Oleon, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., 
November 9, 1838 ; 
Died at Van Buren, Mo., 

January 1, 1863. 
Dulce est pro patria mori." 

He enlisted in the summer of 1862, as a private in Com- 
pany A, 23d Iowa Infantry, under Captain Houston. He 
was promoted to hosj^ital steward of the regiment, which 
place' he held until the time of his death. He died of 
typhoid fever. His home had been in Iowa since he was a 

child. 

ALFRED M. LYON 

Went as sutler of the Twenty-third Regiment. He was one 
of the most patriotic and conscientious of men. He (unlike 
many others) sold goods to accommodate the soldiers, and 
not to rob them of their money, charging for everything he 
sold only the smallest profit. Ready at all times to help 
those in need, he lent money to all that asked him. He 
held the office of sutler that he might go with the army ; 
for he was above the age of those admitted into the ranks 
as soldiers. He had always expressed a determination to 
engage in battle with the troops. He asked permission of 
Captain Houston to join his company. He was urged not 
to do so, but he said that whenever there was prospect of 
a battle, he would go into the ranks and help to defend his 
country. When the army crossed into Mississippi, near 
Port Gibson, on the 1st of May, all citizens and sutlers, by 
17 



258 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

orders from head-quarters, were prohibited from accom- 
panying the army. In a few days, however, the sutlers 
were allowed to rejoin their several regiments. Lyon went 
forward, leaving all his goods behind him, determined only 
on entering the ranks as a private soldier. When he 
reached his regiment, he went to Captain Houston and 
asked for a gun and uniform. But the captain refused it, 
saying that he was so old a man that he could not endure 
the fatigue of the march ; that there were young men enough 
without his hazarding his life, and the welfare of his family, 
by going into battle. He told Captain Houston that if not 
permitted to enter Company A, he would join some other 
company. Then said Captain H., " If you will be a soldier, 
I shall be glad to have you in my company." This was 
about the 8th of May. The army was then a few miles 
from the river. Lyon marched with the company fully 
one hundred miles — to Jackson, then to Black River. He 
was repeatedly urged on the march to give up the thought 
of going into battle. Colonel Kinsman and others urged 
him to desist ; but said he, " I am determined to see what 
a soldier's life is. My mind is made up." He was offered 
a horse to ride repeatedly on the march ; but he would not 
accept it, and kept step with the young men, only desir- 
ous of meeting the foe. On the 16th of May the regiment 
was slightly engaged at Champion Hills. From Cham- 
pion Hills to Black River is about twelve miles. The 
regiment skirmished with the enemy until it reached Black 
River, where it made the memorable charge upon the 
enemy's works which resulted in their capture, securing at 
the same time not less than fifteen hundred prisoners. 
Colonel Kinsman asked permission to make the assault. 
When granted, he communicated the intelligence to his 
officers. Here Captain Houston again spoke to Lyon, 
advising him not to enter this charge ; for it would certainly, 
he said, be a desperate one, and his life might be a sacri- 
fice, and his family left without a protector. Colonel Kins- 



COMPANY A, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 259 

man also spoke to him, advising him in the same way. 
Said Lyon, "I am going to make no boys' play of it. My 
mind is made up." When about to enter the charge, he 
went to Captain Houston and said, " Let me be near you." 
'' Why," said the Captain, " Lyon, are you afraid you will 
run ? " " No," said he, " but I have had no experience, and 
I do not know what I am able to do." When the order 
came for the assault, he took his place at the head of the 
company. The order to advance was given. The regiment 
moved forward. It had oone forward but a few rods when 
Lyon fell. After the battle was over, Captain Houston 
returned to look after the wounded of his company. He 
found Lyon still alive. He asked the captain to examine 
his wound, and see whether it was mortal. A ball had 
passed through his stomach from the right side, going 
entirely through his body. The Captain told him that it 
was very doubtful whether he could recover, and said, 
" Lyon, you had better have taken my advice." Lyon 
replied, " Captain, I know my wound is mortal. Perhaps I 
had better have taken your advice ; but it is done now, and 
I have nothing to regret." He was taken to the hospital, 
where he died in a few hours. 

The generals and officers of the army acquainted with 
the circumstances of his death, signed a petition to be laid 
before Congress, asking that Lyon be considered a soldier 
of the* Republic, and a pension be granted his -family, 
which was brought before the House of Representatives by 
the Hon. John A. Kasson ; acted upon and passed. 

Alfred M. Lyon was born in Madison, Ind. Had been 
a resident of Polk County, Iowa, fifteen years at the time 
of his going to the army. He was in 1854 a member of 
the Legislature of Iowa. He was one of the most respected 
and influential citizens of Polk County ; an exemplary 
Christian; a member of the M. E. Church. Lyon told 
his wife, before he left home, that he purposed taking his 
musket whenever there was prospect of a battle. His son, 



260 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

George W. Lyon, a member of Company D, 2d Iowa Infan- 
try, served through the war. 

FRANCIS M. BURGETT 

Was killed at the charge at Black River Bridge, May 17, 
1863. His home was Alton, Dallas County, Iowa, though 
he had been a resident of Des Moines, Polk County, 
two years when the war began ; a student at Forest Home 
Seminary. He left many warm friends in this city. " Bur- 
gett " (say his comrades) "■ was a rare little fellow, a most 
companionable soldier, full of frolic and wit, and as true as 
steel." Knowing him intimately (a pupil of mine previous 
to the war), I can bear testimony to the manly excellence 
of his character, and the purity of his life. A diligent 
student, temperate in his habits, exemplary in his deport- 
ment, he gave promise of becoming a most useful citizen. 
A native of Ohio, he fell at the age of nineteen, and was 
buried on the field of battle. 

ANDRE THOMPSON, 

A NATIVE of Norway, aged twenty-six, enlisted at Des 
Moines, and was mustered into the service Aug. 21, 1862. 
He died Nov. 7, 1863, at New Orleans, La., of disease. 
These are all the facts I have been able to collect concern- 
ino; him. 

JOHN B. SAYLOR, 
JAMES A. SAYLOR. 

John B. Saylor, successor of the lamented Alfred M. 
Lyon, as sutler of the Twenty-third Regiment, lost his life 
by disease at Vicksburg, Miss., July 26, 1863. Born in 
Franklin County, Ind., March 15, 1806, he emigrated to 
Van Buren County, Iowa, in the year 1839, seven years be- 
fore Iowa was admitted into the Union as a State. He was 
one of the first white men that permanently settled in what 
is now Polk County. He came here in the month of April, 



COMPANY A, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 261 

1845, having a permit to settle, and a contract to supply 
beef, hay, etc., to the garrison stationed at Fort I>es Moines. 
He chose as his place of residence the beautiful grove 
which now bears his name. The township in which he ,set- 
tled bears also his name, and the village in Saylor Grove. 
He began to till the soil in this county three years before 
the lands in central Iowa were surveyed, and while the Sac 
and Fox still possessed them. Keokuk's village was then 
standing a few miles southeast of Fort Des Moines, on 
the prairie which bears his name, and old Pash-a-pa-hoe, 
the war chief (who was buried on the hill overlooking Fort 
Des Moines from the south), was still living, and proud and 
boastful of his past achievements. 

John B. Saylor was a man of much influence in the 
community where he lived, and his township fairly repre- 
sents his sterling patriotism. Saylor Township sent more 
men to the army in proportion to its population than per- 
haps any other township in the county, and it lost not less 
than twenty brave men. Four of Mr. Saylor's sons, and 
one son-in-law enlisted in the Twenty-thii;d Regiment. So 
many of his relatives, neighbors, and friends being in that 
regiment was assigned by him as a reason for his going 
South at his advanced age. " I go," said he, " to watch 
over the men of Saylor Township, and see that they want 
for nothing that can be got to them by my assistance." But 
the too sudden change from a Northern to a Southern cli- 
mate was more than his constitution could endure. He 
sunk under it and expired. His body was brought home 
for burial. 

His monument is an enduring one, and the recollections 
of him will not soon fade from the minds of his neighbors 
and acquaintances. He was a good and useful man ; a pro- 
fessor of religion ; a prominent member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church ; a representative Western man ; a true 
and tried patriot ; a Christian gentleman. 

His son, James A, Saylor, was a member of Company A, 



262 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

23d Iowa regiment, and was discharged for disability at 
Patterson, Mo., Nov. 23, 1862. He returned home and 
recovered his health. The eldest boy remaining at home 
unmarried, he was his mother's chief reliance in carrying 
on her large farm. In the month of February, 1868, by 
overlifting, he brought on himself disease which in a short 
time resulted in his death, and he Avas buried beside his 
father in the cemetery near Saylor Grove. He was born 
in Van Buren County, Iowa, in the year 1841. James was 
a young man of uncommon good qualities. Intelligent, 
kind-hearted, and industrious, he gave promise of becoming 
not less useful and influential than his father had been. 1 
knew him well ; for he was formerly a pupil of mine. A 
dilii^ent student, his ambition was to become a oood and 
useful man. His brothers, Sergeant Thomas J., John Q. 
A., and William A. Saylor, who were members of the 
Twenty-third Regiment, lived to see the end of the war, 
and are engaged in peaceful pursuits, useful and honora- 
ble men. William A. Saylor, Esq., is now a citizen of 
Galveston, Texas. 



COMPANY B, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

DONALD C. SHARP. 
The following extracts from the letters of this unfortu- 
nate soldier to his wife, shovf him to have been a most 
affectionate husband and father, and a true Christian pat- 
riot : — 

" Camp Burnside, Des Moines, Iowa, I 
Sept. 20, 1862. ) 

"My dear and affectionate Wife, — I hurriedly 
attempt to address you a few lines, you who are ever dear 
to me ; my affections are ever on you. May we ever think 
of each other, and look to Him who is ever ready to guide 
us on the path of duty. While seated here alone in my 
bunk, I recall the happy days we have spent together, and 
I cannot help but shed tears. 

" Kiss Billy and Flora for me. Put your trust in Him who 
is the giver of all good. Pray fervently ; don't neglect it. 
I always think of you and your love to me ; I always think 
of you in my prayers. May the God of heaven sustain 
you in every trial, is the prayer of your affectionate and 

loving husband." 

" Keokuk, Sept. 25. 

. . . . " Thousands are plunged into eternity unpre- 
pared. We should watch and pray. Life is truly ' as a 
dream ; ' it soon passes away, and we return to our mother 
dust. It is a solemn thought! I want to impress upon 
you one thing, and that is — prayer ! O do not neglect it 
for my sake ; we need to watch and pray." 



261 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" St. Louis, Sept. 30, 1862. 

" I must acknowledge that I felt lonely and truly home- 
sick this evening. I can't help but feel so — leaving behind 
all that is dear to me. My affections are all upon you and 
my dear children. I constantly think of you, and I kno^v 
that you think of me. 

" Were it not that I look to Him, who is the giver of all 
good, for strength and courage, I would be lonely indeed. 
May I ever be found trusting in Him. 

" War brings sorrows and afflictions to thousands of 
hearts. It is the eifect of sin. that all had their af- 
fections on things above. Wars would cease, and what a 
happy earth this would be." 

" ScHOFiELD Baeracks, Oct. 3, 1862. 

. . . . " It is truly hard when men must be separated 
from their families and homes. Men who are at ease at 
home know nothing about it. O that nation would 
cease to be divided against nation. 

" Trust in the God of heaven and earth ; look to Him ; 
may He ever shield us with the shield of his protection ; 
He is the rock on which we must build our hopes. We 
must rely on his promises ; yes, come to Him in true sin- 
cerity of heart : cast all our cares upon Him. My dear 
wife, do not neglect secret prayer ; pray in faith ; pray 
believing. Many tears have I shed since we parted. My 
thoughts are always upon you. Could I forget you ? No. 
I think of you by day and by night. God only knows the 
future. We look back upon the past. We may look to 
that inheritance beyond this vale of tears." 

" Oct. 5, 1862. 

" A true and affectionate wife is the greatest blessing 
that a man can have. I often think of when I was single, 
and of the so-called pleasures that I enjoyed. A single 
man is never happy as one that is married, if he has a wife 
that cares for him." .... 



COMPANY B, TAYENTY-TIIIHD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 265 

''Oct. Gth. 

" I understand that we are to leave in the morning for 
Pilot Knob. The future is unknown to us. We should 
cast our all upon Him who is our Redeemer, the Holy- 
One of Israel. that our affections were always upon 

things above This is a trying time, a time 

of affliction and sorrow. Thousands are cut off, ushered 
into eternity unprepared. It is truly a solemn thought. 
Should we not attend to secret prayer? Pray to our 
Father in heaven ; ask for his protecting hand to go with 
us ; for He has promised to take care of all who put their 

trust in Him When I commence to say a 

hymn my heart gets full ; the tears flow to my eyes. 
may this Rebellion speedily come to a close ; may the glad 
tidings of peace soon prevail. What joy it will speak to 
many a poor heart ! O may it soon dawn upon this nation ! 
The future is unknown to us, but we know that there is an 
inheritance beyond this world of tears. O that we may 
both reach that haven of rest is my prayer." .... 

" Camp Patterson, Mo., Oct. 19, 1862. 

" I listened with great interest to a discourse delivered by 
our Chaplain, Brother Barton. It was an interesting dis- 
course, one that interested all. He spoke of the future, 
of that land beyond this vale of tears : of the Christian's 
hope. It was a solemn discourse. I hope we will always 
be found seeking after the bread of life, that we may never 
hunger. We need much to pray. We know not whether 
we shall ever meet again. May our eyes ever be heaven- 
ward. My dear wife, I do strive to attend to my duties. I 
look to Him who is able to sustain me. Pray for me that 
I may continue faithful to the end. By prayer we are 
made strong. We lay hold of the promises. I seek to be 
an heir of the Heavenly Jerusalem. 

"This is a beautiful Sabbath-day. I have shed many 
tears to-day. It appears like my heart was melted. I was 



266 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

touched with the discourse. I enjoy considerable peace of 
mind ; for which I feel thankful. I think often of you, and 
of our sweet children. May we ever think of each other. 
We can now, while sejDarated from one another, better 
realize our love. Let us pray earnestly for each other. 
Let us not neglect prayer." 

" St. Louis, Nov. 1, 1862. 
" MRS. EMILY SHARP: 

"Dear Madam, — At your husband's request I write a 
few lines for him. He is still too feeble to write for him- 
self, and fears you may feel unduly anxious concerning 
him. He thinks you may have already heard, through his 
comrades, of the accident which has deprived him of a 
limb ; but 1 will give you a brief account of it, that you 
may understand correctly how he is. 

" On Sunday, October 2Gth, as he was cleaning his gun, 
not knowing that it was loaded, he snapped a cap on it, 
when it went off, sending the ball through his left ankle 
in such a direction, as to completely shatter the joint. He 
was sent to this city, where he arrived Tuesday evening. 
The next morning the surgeons held an examination, and 
decided that it must be amputated. They gave him chlo- 
roform, so that he suffered no pain during the operation ; 
and, excepting for the first few hours after he returned to 
consciousness, he has not felt much pain in that limb. Of 
course it is pretty tiresome lying on one's back all the time ; 
but he will soon get used to that. He is getting along 
finely, with a fair prospect of speedy recovery. 
" Yours truly, 

'^ CHARLES A. BARROWS." 

" Fifth Street Hospital, "Ward No. 2, Nov. 11, 1862. 
" My dear Wife, — My leg was amputated just above the 
ankle joint. I get the best of care. You need not be 
uneasy about me. My trust is in God. He will not for- 
sake me in this my hour of need. My great desire is for 



COMPANY B, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 267 

the prayers of all Christians. Dear Emily, I know your 
afflictions are great ; but the God of heaven will sustain 
you. Resort to secret prayer often, and whilst there, do 
not forget to ask the blessino^ of God on him who needs 
His grace now. 

" Write soon to your affectionate husband, 

" DONALD C. SHARP." 

" St. Louis, November 17, 1862. 
"MRS. SHARP: 

" Dear Madam, — You must prepare for the worst. A 
few days ago your husband took a turn for the worse, and 
since then he has failed very fast. Indeed he cannot possi- 
bly live but a few hours. 

" It must, certainly, be the greatest possible consolation 
to know that he died a Christian. 

" Even as I have been writing his spirit has left us for, 
we trust, a better home above. He died November 17, at 
1 o'clock and 15 minutes p. m. 

" CHARLES A. BARROWS." 

I am impressed, on reading the letters of Donald C. 
Sharp, with the conviction that the soldier who wrote 
them felt in his heart a premonition, from the time he left 
home, that his days on earth were not to be of long dura- 
tion. How he seems to struggle in view of impending fate, 
yet resigned to the will of God. He was twenty-five years 
old when he died ; born in the State of New York ; re- 
sided in Polk City, Polk County, Iowa, three years previous 
to the time of his enlistment. 

GEORGE CRAWFORD STEVENS 
Left a pleasant home and enlisted as a private soldier, 
because, he said, " It is the duty of all unmarried men able 
to bear arms to go out in defense of their country." Enlisted 
Aug. 5, 1862, in Company B, 23d Iowa Infantry. He was 



268 AMEPJCAN PATRIOTISM. 

born in Elkhart Co., Indiana, near the city of Goshen, April 
12, 1843, and came with his parents to Madison Township, 
Polk County, in 1854 " George," says Captain J. M. 
Walker, " was a bright, active boy, full of life, and he 
seemed only anxious to meet the enemies of his country on 
the field of battle. Only a few days previous to our order 
to march, he was taken violently ill, and died suddenly." 
The testimony of those who knew him is, that he was a 
boy of good morals, never known to do anything bad. He 
was regular in his attendance at church, was treasurer of 
the Sabbath-school held in the little meeting-house four 
miles north of Polk City. Of his sickness in the army he 
says, October 16, "I have got the measles ; took hold pretty 
sharply ; I have been sick four days ; feel first-rate now." 
November 28th he writes : " This letter closes up and leaves 
me in good health." December 2d he says : " I am well." 
But, on the 10th of the same month, he died of typhoid 
fever, and was buried at Camp Patterson, Mo. He was an 
affectionate son and brother, and a true and patriotic sol- 
dier. 

WILLIAM MOSGROVE 

Was wounded at Port Gibson, Miss., May 1, 1863, in the 
thigh, groin, and leg. Died June 6, 18G3, at Magnolia 
Hospital, Miss., of wounds. A native of Ohio ; nineteen 
years old when he enlisted. 

"Than whom," says Captain Walker, "a truer spirit 
never took up arms to defend his country's flag. After he 
had been shot down by the enemy, and was unable to rise 
to his feet, on his knees he brought up his gun to reload, 
and fire at the enemy. He was one of the first of the 
members of the reodment wounded in battle. He was mild 
in his disposition, genial, light-hearted, brave, and true." 

When he entered the army he had been eight years a 
resident of Polk County. Say those who knew him at 
home, " He was a good boy, and well thought of" 



COMrANY B, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 269 

JOHN VIRTUE. 

John Virtue was truly a virtuous man in every sense of 
the term. Here is the testimony of Captain Walker con- 
cerning him : — 

" The wound which resulted in the death of John Virtue 
was received in a hand to hand fight with a Texan soldier 
at Milliken's Bend, La., — a bayonet wound. Virtue was 
a powerful man, over six feet in height, and weighing over 
two hundred pounds. He was remarkable for his good 
temper, and fine, soldierly bearing. High-toned and hon- 
orable, he was universally beloved by his companions. He 
left a wife and several small children." 

The following is taken from the " History of Iowa 
Colonels and Regiments," by k. A. Stuart, page 392 : — 

" The contending forces were separated by a levee, and 
several hand to hand encounters took place on its top. In 
one instance, a powerful man of the 23d Iowa, named John 
Virtue, assaulted a Rebel with his bayonet. The parties 
met on the top of the levee, and, after a few parries, each 
pierced the other through. They stood thus struggling, 
when. another soldier of the Twenty-third, named Thomas 
McDowell, rushed on the Rebel and beat his brains out 
with his musket. Virtue afterwards died of his wound." 

Virtue was an affectionate husband and father ; a relig- 
ious man ; an acceptable member of the Methodist Church. 
No man could say aught against him. He resided, previous 
to the war, near Polk City. He went to the army only 
because he loved his country. Since his death Mrs. V. has 
removed to Wisconsin. I am sorry not to have been able 
to see any of his letters ; for it would be interesting to read 
the correspondence of so perfect a man. Aged thirty, a 
native of Ohio, he died June 7, 1863. 



270 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 



JOHN FILMER. 

The following was written in a day-book belonging to 
John Filmer, by his lieutenant, shortly after Fihner's 
death : — 

" John Filmer, of Company B, 23d Iowa Volunteers, 
was killed at the battle of Milliken's Bend, La., June 7, 
1863. He was a good soldier, a brave man, and a Chris- 
tian. 

"FRANCIS WEITMAN, 

Second Lieutenant Company 5." 

He was born in Logan County, Ohio, Sept. 9, 1843 ; was 
a member of the United Brethren Church, with which he 
had been connected for five years previous to his entering 
the service. He lived with his parents in Madison Town- 
ship, Polk Co., Iowa. At the time of the departure of the 
regiment for Milliken's Bend, Filmer was unwell. His 
lieutenant advised him to remain in camp and not go with 
the regiment ; but he felt that he could still be at his 
post and went along, and fell, pierced with a rebel bullet. 

Captain Walker says of this soldier : — 

" One of the youngest, as well as one of the best soldiers 
in the company. He was a sincere Christian. His death 
was deeply lamented by the entire company. He was be- 
loved by officers and men." 

Filmer writes : — 

"Milliken's Bend, April 3, 1863. 

" Though deprived of the comforts of life, there are only 
a few grumblers in our company, and they are homesick. 
I assure you that I do not belong to the grumbling class." 

" West Plains, Mo., Feb. 3, 1863. 
" The boys are playing cards for annisement, but I do 



COMPANY B, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 271 

not touch cards. I thank God for giving me good par- 
ents." 

Again he says : — "I am thankful for your love. I can- 
not be too grateful to my parents for their love to me." 
Again : — "I like my own Iowa ; and I love my dear 
parents, brothers, and sisters better than life." 

HENRY H. BEESON 

" Gave his life for his country on the bloody field of 
Milliken's Bend, June 7, 1863. At the time of the move- 
ment against Vicksburg, Beeson was attached to the Pio- 
neer Corps ; but knowing we would have hot work in a' few 
days, he was anxious to be with his company. He went to 
the commander of the corps and requested permission to 
rejoin his company, which request was granted ; and never 
was there a happier fellow than he, when he reported for 
duty to his captain. During the entire campaign he never 
flinched for any danger, and after so many dangers had 
been passed, and victories won, he was cut off." 

The above is the testimony of Captain Walker. 

Beeson was born in Wayne County, Ind., Dec. 7, 1840 ; 
he came with his parents to Polk County, in 1852, and 
lived in Saylor Township. He remarked before he left 
home to join the army, — " My country next to my God ; 
I will die rather than see the Rebellion succeed." He was 
a member of the Christian Church. 



WILLIAM P. JOHNSON 

Had been attached to the hospital as nurse, in which 
capacity he rendered good service. He was discharged 
June 15, 1863, at Young's Point, La., for disability. He 
had just reached Rising Sun, Polk County, when he died. 



272 AMERICAN PATRIOTISar. 

He was tenderly cared for in his last illness by Mrs. A. J. 
Barton, and other kind friends of the soldiers. He was a 
native of Massachusetts ; aged twenty-three years ; a pri- 
vate ; enlisted Aug. 9, 1862. 

BENJAMIN F. NUSSBAUM 

Enlisted at Polk City, Aug. 1, 1862, aged eighteen. 
Was wounded at the siege of Vicksburg, June 14, 1863, 
and died June 20th, of wounds. He had been detached 
from his regiment and placed in the Peoria (111.) Battery ; 
was standing at the trail of the gun helping to get aim on 
the rebel works, when he was struck by a musket-ball, it 
having glanced from a post in the embrasure. He was lean- 
ing forward, and the ball struck him by the side of the neck, 
inside the collar bone. It passed through the left lung, 
and was cut out below the ribs. He was religious and 
brave ; undaunted during the darkest hour of battle. 

Benjamin had lived with his parents near Polk City, 
since he was a small boy. He was born in Ohio. Of his 
brother, Isaac Z. Nussbaum, a member of Company A, 10th 
Iowa, we have before written. 

GEOEGE M. NICHOLAS. 

Says Captain Walker : — 

" George Nicholas lived to jDarticipate in the entire cam- 
paign and siege of Vicksburg, and to see the flag of the 
Union wave triumphantly over the stronghold of treason, 
and died a few days after in a mysterious manner while 
the army was moving against Jackson, Miss." 

The following account of the manner of his death, is 
given by one of his comrades : — 



COMPANY B, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 273 

" His disease was congestion of the brain caused by lieat 
of tiie sun. Yesterday morning he was apparently bloom- 
ing with health, and started with the regiment on a march 
to Black River. About ten o'clock he was taken with a 
severe headache, and got on a wagon to ride. We camped 
about three o'clock. George seemed well, and helped get 
dinner as usual. When dinner was ready he sat down and 
ate heartily. When through eating we were all lounging 
on the grass. George laid down and put his hat over his 
face, and we thought he was asleep. In about fifteen min- 
utes he began to gape and jerk. We lifted him up, gave 
him water, and rubbed him ; but all was in vain and he 
died. George was a good boy, and his loss was mourned 
by all who knew him." , 

Another says : " He was one of the best boys in the 
company ; loved of all." 

Just the day before he died he wrote to his mother : — 



" Dear Mother, — I am glad to say Vicksburg is 
taken ; no more hard fighting for that place. It cost many 
a life to secure it. I am in hopes that this war will be 
over before the next 4th of July, so that I can be with you 
at home on that day. I had to stand out on picket three 
days and three nights, and none to relieve us until the 
morning of the fourth, when the Rebels surrendered. Our 
regiment has to go to Black River, and in all probability to 
Jackson. I am in good spirits." 

No one was ever called away with less warning than 
George Nicholas. Perhaps the three days and nights on 
picket had somewhat to do in producing his death. He 
was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, Aug. 16, 1844, and 
came to Des Moines with his parents in 1855 ; enlisted in 
18 



274 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Company B, 23d Iowa, Aug. 7, 1862, and died on the 5th 
day of July, 1863, aged 19. He was a member in good 
standing of the order of Good Templars in Des Moines. 

KANDOLPH rOSTEE HARBER 

Was born in Mason County, Kentucky, Oct. 20, 1842 ; 
came to Polk County, Iowa, with his parents in 1856 ; en- 
listed at Polk City, Aug. 16, 1862, and died of brain fever 
in camp hospital, rear of Vicksburg, July 6, 1863. " He 
was a young man of promise ; participated (says Captain 
J. M. Walker) in all the engagements of the campaign 
against Vicksburg. After the battle of Champion Hills, 
Company B, in skirmishing, captured forty prisoners, which 
were placed in charge of Corporal Harber, at one o'clock 
A. M., with orders to deliver them at the rendezvous in the 
rear, after which he was to report immediately to his com- 
pany. He executed his trust faithfully, and by nine that 
same morning was np to his regiment, having marched all 
night. Harber acquitted himself bravely in the battles of 
Black River and Milliken's Bend." 

GEORGE W. GRIGSBY. 

The letters of soldiers to their wives and children reveal 
the amount of happiness enjoyed by man in the domestic 
relations of life. Deprived of the comforts of home, and 
the companionship of wife and children, exposed to the 
hardships incident to a soldier's life, home becomes to the 
soldier's mind a haven of bliss. He gives loose rein to his 
feelings, and pictures all the beauties of home in his letters. 
Since I began to write these memoirs I have been per- 
mitted to read very many soldiers' letters. How beautiful 
is home as revealed in those letters ! How sweet the com- 
forts of domestic life ! When now I pass by the humblest 
cabin I say in my heart, " Behold that little world of joy, 
if husband, wife, and children all are there ; but O, if the 
husband and father lies buried on the battle-field, what a 
shadow is over that house." 



COMPANY B, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 275 

George W. Grigsby had been married fifteen months 
when he enlisted in the service of his country. It may be 
' supposed by some that the newly married can more easily 
sunder the ties that bind them to one another, than those 
who have lived for years in each other's society. The ardor 
of youth is as strong as the habit of age. The patriot goes 
on to the discharge of his duty to his country, regardless 
of the sacrifices that he must make. Even his own life 
he places in the balance. Yet he forgets not his wife and 
children. He that is devoid of love of home and family, 
cannot be a true patriot. Indeed he loves his country be- 
cause he loves his home and family. 

" Memphis, Tenn., June 6, 1863. 
" My dear Mart, — There is a great celebration here 
to-day, in honor of the battle fought in this place a year 
ago. The whole city is covered with the Stars and Stripes ; 
but there is nothing that attracts my attention. My 
thoughts are on you, and on my own dear babe. I shall 
see no real enjoyment until I see my own dear wife and 
home again. I often think of the happy hours we have 
spent together. It seems to me that if I could live them 
over again, I would enjoy them still better than before. 
The sweetest moments that I enjoy are to steal away to 
some lonely place and think of you and the babe." 

Ao^ain he writes to his wife : — 

" You are always in my mind. I remember you ever in 
my prayers, and I want you to do the same by me ; and if 
we fail to meet again on earth, it may be our happy lot to 
meet in heaven. Folks may say I am homesick ; but this 
isj^notthe case, though I would like so well to see you and 
my dear home." 

" Young's Point, April 24, 1863. 

" I shall try and live as near right as I can ; be always 
at my post ready to do my duty — as I have always been 



276 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

— and when the war is over I trust I shall be permitted to 
return home. 



" There is no telling how soon we may be engaged in 
battle ; yet I shall not let that trouble me ; but submit to 
the will of my Heavenly Father, who will protect and keep 
me from all harm. If I fall I shall try and be prepared 
for death. I need the prayers of all God's people, that I 
may hold out faithful to the end. I remember my prom- 
ises. I have my little Testament in my side pocket, and 
read a chapter or two every day." 

Again he says : " I fear no evil ; I try to live a Christian 
life." 

" Young's Point, June 12, 1863. 

"The cannon is belching forth its deadly discharges. 
We truly need the prayers of all our friends at home, that 
if we do fall we may be prepared. My dear wife, if I am 
never permitted to meet you on earth again, pray that we 
may meet in heaven. I sometimes think it doubtful 
whether we ever meet again in this life ; but we will hope 
for the best, and be prepared for the worst." 

" On Board the Boat FIenry Yon Phul, \ 
Bound for Memphis with a cargo of Southern Butternuts, > 

Jum 3, 1863. ) 

"My dear Mother, — The Lord has been my guide. 
He has brought me safe thus far. I ask an interest in 
your prayers, one and all, that I may live a true Christian, 
and neither turn to the right nor left, but keep straight 
forward until I reach my home in heaven." 

Captain J. M. Walker says : — 

" I became very much attached to Grigsby, having 
ever found him true in the hour of trial ; never faltering in 



COMPANY B, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 277 

the performance of duty. No braver soldier, nor better 
man ever responded to the call to arms — the first man in 
the ranks at the sound of alarm. He received the wound 
which resulted in his death, in the rifle-pits in the rear of 
Vicksburg, and died on the hospital boat, while on his way 
home." 

He died July 14, 1863. He was buried, it is supposed,. 
at Helena. Born in Wayne County, Penn., a. d. 1832 ; 
he came to Iowa in 1852. He was a member of the 
Methodist Church for ten years. 

LAWRENCE LEONARD. 

Born in Clay County, Ind., July 25, 1845, he had been 
a resident of Polk County, Iowa, eight years, when he en- 
listed in Company B, 23d Iowa Infantry, as a private, Aug. 
14, 1862. Three brothers were in the army defending the 
flag of the Union, James, Joshua, and Lawrence, sons of 
Mr. John Leonard, who lived during the war in East Des 
Moines. James and Joshua were members of the 44th 
Indiana, James was severely wounded in the battle of 
Champion Hills. Lawrence participated in the battles of 
Port Gibson, Black River, and Milliken's Bend. Being 
attacked by disease during this campaign, he was placed on 
board the hospital boat, City of Memphis, where he died 
July 14, 1863, between Memphis, Tenn., and Cairo, 111. He 
was a patriotic boy. " I will give my right arm, yes, my 
life, before I will see this government go down," is the 
sentiment that animated his young heart when he signed 
his name as a volunteer. And from the front he writes : 
" I feel very well satisfied in the army ; and hope to see 
you all when the war is over, and the Rebels have laid 
down their arms." 

Captain Walker says of Leonard : — 



278 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" He was of slight build, but of great powers of endur- 
ance ; always cheerful, ready for duty, and brave in battle. 
His comrades felt his loss bitterly. He was almost the 
only support of aged parents." 

Writing to the parents of Lawrence Leonard from Camp 
Patterson, Mo., Oct. 26, 1862, the same kind officer says : — 

" You have just cause to feel proud of Lawrence ; for 
he is one of the best boys I ever knew. He never failed 
to perform his duty when well, and that, too, without grum- 
bling, as some of the boys do. Pie is a general favorite 
among the men of our company ; and I can assure you 
that Captain Clark and myself are proud of him." 

And Sereno C. Beals, who was with Leonard when he 
died, says : — 

" He was taken sick on the 1st of July ; taken to the hos- 
pital boat on the 8th. Often spoke of his father, mother, 
and friends, though out of his mind much of the time. He 
died a good soldier ; was always willing to do his duty." 

I have space to copy only a part of one of Lawrence's 
letters : — 

" Camp at Pokt Gibson, May 5, 1863. 

" Dear Parents, — I was in a very hard battle since I 
wrote you before. After marching all day and the next 
night until about three o'clock, we were attacked by the 
Kebels, and we fought them about two hours, and then rested 
until daylight, when Captain Griffiths opened upon them 
with his battery, and kept a continual firing until about eight 
o'clock, when our regiment was called out, and we fought 
until sunset, when the Rebels retreated. We drove them 
about four miles back, and then we got a bite, of supper. 
In the morning we started again in pursuit of the flying 
Rebels, but have not found them yet. Our number of 



COMPANY B, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 279 

killed and wounded is about five hundred — four of our 
company wounded dangerously. Our regiment lost seven 
killed and twenty-seven wounded. 

" LAWRENCE." 

ENOCH BEIGHLER, 

Son of Solomon Beighler, one of the early settlers of 
Polk County, enlisted Aug. 9, 18G2 ; died July 22d, 1863, 
of disease, at Vicksburg, Miss. Captain Walker says of 
him : — 

" He had participated in all of the battles of the cam- 
paign before Vicksburg. A brave soldier and a beloved 
companion. A sad day it was for the company when we 
laid his remains in the cold ground beneath a beautiful 
magnolia in the rear of Vicksburg. He left a young wife 
to mourn his untimely end." 

" AsHFORD Landing, Perkins' Plantation, La. 
" Dear Father, Mother, and Sister, — I am thank- 
ful, this beautiful Sabbath morning, that I have the opportu- 
nity of writing to you. I am out on picket guard to-day. 
We are camped twenty-five miles from Vicksburg. General 
Carr commands our brigade. We have a good colonel 
and a good captain." 

" Sunday Afternoon. 

" I am very lonesome this afternoon. I am trying to live 
in the army as near right as I can. I thank God that I 
have a praying father and mother. I believe in prayer. I 
a man ever needed prayers it is in the army ; for he is sur- 
rounded with temptations. Pray for your sons in the army. 
We don't hear preaching very often. Write and tell me 
how you all are getting along in religious matters ; how the 
Church is prospering ; and whom you have for your 

preacher this year. 

" ENOCH." 



280 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Enoch Beighler was bom in Montgomery County, Tnd., 
August 19, 1842. 



I CANNOT give a better account of this soldier than in 



DANIEL M. CONDIT 
his own words : — 

''April 1, 1863. 

" I have good health, and save some money, and drink 
no whiskey, and go to bed at the right time. I will try and 
not bring disgrace upon my friends. I will try and do you 
some little good. You may be assured that my feeble 
prayers ascend to Heaven for you both ; and if God is wil- 
ling, we will meet on earth again ; and if not, we will meet 
in heaven at last." 

" July 13, 1863. 

" I am thankful to God for his mercy to me, and I will 
never forget to worship Him, in doing as near right as I 
can at all times, and pray at all times. Keep in good 
cheer. I pray for you, mother and father, morning, noon, 
and night, and feel all is well that God sees fit to do. I 
would like to see you very much, but cannot now, so I do 
not get homesick." 

Again he writes : — 

" Well, dear ma, I think of you often, and I know you do 
of me. Though we are parted for a few months, you know 
we will meet again. How many mothers there are in the 
same condition with you ! But I have in nowise forgotten 
you, you may be assured. I think of you morning, noon, 
and nis^ht 

" We have enough to eat and drink and wear. A man 
in the service has a good time if he does duty in the com- 
pany. It is not a bad place anyhow. I have a good cap- 
tain, and good men to be with." 



COMPANY B, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 281 

" Camp at Y^oung's Poijjt, June 4, 1863. 
" My dear Parents, — You have doubtless read of the 
good conduct of our Iowa troops in Grant's army. We 
gained a brilliant victory at Port Gibson, and at Champion 
Hills, and at Black River. The Twenty-third will be re- 
membered with deep interest for years to come, and so will 
the heroes that fell on that bright day. Colonel Kinsman 
took his place in front of us and told us to follow him, and 
you know that every man would go with him that' could 
walk at all. He fell, a brave man as ever trod on Southern 
soil, and good as is in the world. But he is now in heaven, 
I trust — happy place, where the soldier can go. In regard 
to Mr. Lyon, I can say that he was a true patriot. He told 
the boys that he could not see the rest of them go in and 
fight and die for the country, and he stay back. He fought 
like a man and fell. A more upright, true, and honest man 
never was. He too is among the blessed." 

Daniel M. Condit died of disease, July 25, 1863, at 
Vicksburg. A noble-hearted young man. He loved his 
parents and his home. Born in Orange, Essex County, N. 
J., Feb. 4, 1842 ; had been a resident of Des Moines four 
years when he entered the army. His widowed mother is 
now alone in the world. 

Captain J. M. Walker says : — 

" He was a good boy ; was with me ; I knew him very 
intimately ; always willing for duty, pleasant, and agreeable." 

ELIJAH KOONS 
Died July 28, 1863, while en route for home on sick furlough. 
A native of Indiana, age, thirty-two, he enlisted at Say- 
lorville, Polk County, Iowa, Aug. 15, 1862. He was a 
married man, and an only son of Nathan Koons, an old 
resident of Polk County. 



282 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

HENRY J. MILLARD, 

Aged eighteen ; a native of New York ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1862, at Polk City; died July 28, 1863, at Vicksburg, 
Miss., of disease. 

" He had," says Captain Walker, " but recently returned 
from hospital, when we made the movement against Vicks- 
burg. He was feeble and unfit for duty ; but he would not 
remain behind. He kept up during the campaign, and 
lived to know that our arms were victorious." 

THOMAS McDowell. 

"Thomas McDowell," says Captain J. M. Walker, 
" was one of those brave and gallant spirits who, at the call 
of country, left wife and children to help drive back the 
black wave of war which seemed almost sure to extend its 
devastation over the beautiful fields of the North in 1862. 
He never lost one day during his entire service. He parti- 
cipated in numerous battles, and was finally wounded with 
a bayonet, while striving to save the life of John Virtue. 
He succeeded in killing, with the butt of his gun, the Texan 
soldier that bayoneted Virtue. McDowell died from the 
effects of the wound received on that occasion, beloved by 
officers and men. He was a kind and devoted husband, a 
tender father, and a gallant soldier." 

He died at Eddyville, Iowa, on his way home. His re- 
mains were brought home, and buried in the grave-yard in 
Jefferson Township, Polk County, at the Mount Pleasant 
Church, near his own home. He was a native of Indiana, 
aged thirty-six. Enlisted Aug. 21, 1862. 

There was not a better man in the country than Mc- 
Dowell. One of the most useful men ; one that every- 
body liked ; had no enemies ; left a comfortable home ; was 
a farmer in good circumstances. 



COMPANY B, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 283 

BENJAMIN W. HENKLE, 
A GOOD soldier and pure-minded Christian gentleman, 
died March 21, 1864, at Fort Esperanza, Texas, of typhoid 
fever, after two years of hard military service. His friends 
are said to live near Saylorville, Polk County, Iowa. A 
native of Indiana, aged twenty-five. 

CLAEK WILSON, 
Born in Bennington, Delaware County, Ohio, a. d. 
1841. Died of disease July 5, 1864, at Keokuk, Iowa, in 
hospital. Enlisted Aug. 6, 1862 ; accompanied his regi- 
ment in its marches and battles until the end of the Vicks- 
burg campaign. He had in the winter of 1862-3 a severe 
attack of measles, from which he never completely re- 
covered. He was in Fifth Street Hospital, Keokuk, nearly 
a year. 

A religious, conscientious man, earnest in his Christian 
faith and practice, son of Rev. James Wilson, of Polk City, 
he was reared under pious influences. He never regretted 
having enlisted, but said, just before he died, that he would 
do as he had done, if it were to do over again. At home 
he was always kind and dutiful to his parents. In the 
army a good soldier. 

LORENZO D. DUNWOODY, 

Age, thirty-two ; accredited to Des Moines, second ward ; 
native of Ohio ; enlisted as a recruit Feb. 22d, 1864; died 
Aug. 18, 1864, at New Orleans, La., of disease. This is all 
that I have been able to learn of his history. 

JOHN MERCER, 
Whose father, L. E. Mercer, resides in Corydon, Polk 
County, and has been a resident of Iowa twelve years, was 
born in Greene County, Ohio, July 24, 1846. Enlisted 
March 25, 1864, at Polk City; and died Sept. 5, 1864, at 



284 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Memphis, Tenn. He was unfit for duty on account of bad 
health, nearly the whole time while in the service ; was in 
hospital at Memphis, four months. He was conscious when 
death was approaching, and asked a comrade to write 
to his parents not to grieve for him, and to his younger 
brother to be dutiful to his parents. 

SERGEANT WILLIAM BENELL, 

" Was the life of his mess " (says Captain Walker) ; 
" never was there a more genial or lighter heart. Every 
one in the regiment knew ' Billy/ and all loved him. He 
was wounded in the hand, at Port Gibson, Miss., which 
disabled him for a short time. He however soon returned 
to duty, and was the same light-hearted, happy companion 
as of yore, brave in battle, cheerful and happy on the 
march." 

A native of Ohio, he enlisted Aug. 1, 1862, aged nine- 
teen. Died Dec. 8, 1864, at Duvall's Bluff, Ark., of typhoid 
fever. 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

JOHN MILTON JUVENALL, 

(James Milton, as given erroneously in the Adjutant- 
General's Reports) was born in Vermilion County, 111., 
March 11, 1843 ; came to Polk County, Iowa, with his par- 
ents, in 1850, and lived with them in Say lor Township until 
he enlisted as a soldier under Captain Gregg, Aug. 9, 1862, 
and went into barracks with the regiment at Camp Burn- 
side, Des Moines. At Ironton and Arcadia, Mo., during the 
fall and winter of 1862, many of the Twenty-third died of 
measles, and among these was Juvenall. No more upright 
young man ever gave his life in his country's cause. His 
parents knew that he was sick, but did not become aware of 
his true condition until they received the following letter, 
written by his uncle, William C. Buzick, a member of 
Company E. Twenty-third Regiment : — 

" Milton has had the measles, and it has settled on his 
lungs. I have been with him now three days, ar.d he 
is not getting any better. He is very sick, and I am 
uneasy about him. The doctor says that I am alarmed 
without a cause, but I think I know. They are going to 
send him with others to hospital at Pilot Knob. I want 
you to come to him as soon as you can." 

Mrs. Juvenall started immediately for Pilot Knob. She 
found her son in regimental hospital at Arcadia, yet alive ; 
stayed by him and nursed him a week, when he died, Nov. 
26, 1862, and was brought home for burial. He rests in 



286 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

the burial-ground near Saylorville. He was a professor of 
religion, — a member of the Methodist Church. He was 
not a healthful boy at any time. He had been under med- 
ical treatment for an affection of the lungs four years. He 
was never able to endure the hardships incident to a sol- 
dier's life. He enlisted believing that he could do some- 
thing for his country, and himself be benefited, perhaps 
comiDletely restored to health, by the outdoor life of the 
camp and field and march ; enlisted as a private. He 
dearly loved his home ; often wrote affectionate and inter- 
esting letters. I will copy the last one he ever penned : — 

" November 8, 1862. 

"I have had the measles, and have got well. I was 
taken sick about the middle of October. You seem to 
think that we have hard living. You must not think about 
us so ; for you cannot make it any better for us by thinking 
and troubling. I believe that we will all come home soon. 
We will draw our pay to-morrow ; then we can buy some 
' good things ' you spoke of. There are five in the tent 
with me. One of the boys has the mumps. Some of the 
soldiers die every two or three days." 

I shall also copy the following beautiful letter by the 
Hon. Ira C. Buzick, — then a college student at Mead- 
ville, Penn., — to Mrs. J., his aunt. The letter breathes 
a noble and Christian spirit : — 

"Yes, dear aunt, I have shed many tears for Milton, 
and again I weep for him whom we all loved ; and again I 
rejoice for that hope which says, ' Wait but a little while, 
be faithful a little longer, and you shall meet him in that 
better world where all our troubles, cares, and sorrows will 
be ended.' O, what consolation for the bereaved heart in 
the words, ' Though ye die, ye shall live again.' Jesus, our 
only Redeemer;, died, that through Him we might have 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 287 

eternal life. O, that we might learn to love Him more, 
and, by faith, draw nearer to Him. The more we contem- 
plate the goodness of God, the more willing we are to en- 
dure troubles, realizing that afflictions here will work out 
for us an exceeding weight of glory hereafter. I know it 
is hard for us to give up those that are nearest and dearest ; 
but it is God's will. Let us consecrate ourselves — all we 
are and all we hope to be — to Him and His cause." 

BENJAMIN P. WEST 

Born in AYashington County, Ohio, a. d. 1842, and 

died of mumps at Patterson, Mo., Nov. 25, 1862, having 

served in the army about three months — highly spoken of 

by his comrades as an efficient soldier and an exemplary 

man. For a long time previous to .the war he resided at 

Savior Grove, Folk County, where he left many warm 

friends. 

SMITH C. ROBINSON 

Enlisted at Mitchellville, Polk County, Aug. 9, 1862; 
died Dec. 2, 1862, at Ironton, Mo., of measles. He was a 
good man and a good soldier. He says in a letter dated 
Oct. 4th : " The measles has made its appearance in camp, 
and I have been exposed to it ; so you may expect to hear 
of me having it before a great while." In the same letter 
he says, " Not a secesh flag dares to show its cloven foot 
where we are." Again, " I like soldiering better than I 
expected.'.' 

Smith C. Robinson was born in "Wayne County, Ind., 
June 19, 1827. He was a very moral, upright man, though 
not a professor of religion. He was brought up by Chris- 
tian parents. His aged father now resides in Covington, 
Ky. Robinson came to Polk County in the year 1845. 
He was a brother-in-law of Mr. Woodrow, of Beaver 
Township ; and his brother, Mr. John Robinson, also lives 
in Beaver Township. Smith C. Robinson was never mar- 
ried. 



288 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

JOHN BKOWN 
Died Feb. 25, 1863, of consumptioo, at St. Louis, Mo., 
aged twenty-five. He enlisted at Mitchell ville, Aug. 9, 
1862, near which place he had lived since he was ten 
years old. He was able to do scarcely any duty after he 
enlisted. Affectionate to his wife and child ; he sent 
them remittances of money whenever he drew any. When 
in need of money in his sickness, Mrs. B. remitted money 
to him that he might want for nothinsf. 

" Camp Chase, Jan. 16, 1863. 
" My dear Wife, — I was glad to hear from you that 
you and the baby were well, and that you get along so well. 
I don't know whether I ever will see Iowa any more or not. 
. . . . The money you sent came in good time ; for I 
was sick and could not get anything that I could eat. As 
soon as I received the money, then I got something to 
eat, and I began to get better, but I am not well yet, nor 
do I know when I shall be." 

DAVID MELSON 

•Enlisted from Camp Township, Polk County, leaving at 
home a wife and eight children. His wife died on the loth 
day of February, 1863, and he on the 25th of the same 
month, in St. Louis, Mo., of disease, leaving his children 
" orphans indeed." He was, say his neighbors, a very still, 
well-behaved man — a carpenter by trade. His brother, 
John Melson, also died in the service. He enlisted in 
Marion County. David Melson was thirty-six years old ; 
a native of Ohio ; enlisted Aug. 9, 1862. 

JOHN GARDENER WEBB 

Was the first man of the Twenty-third Regiment killed in 
battle ; he was born in Marion County, Indiana, Feb. 7, 
1841 ; lived with his parents on their farm near Saylor- 
villc; in Polk County, Iowa, since he was fifteen. Enlisted 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 289 

Aug. 7, 1862. His parents were not aware that he thought 
of enlisting until he informed them that he had already 
become a soldier. He never regretted what he had un- 
dertaken. He writes, Feb. 24, 1863 : — 

" The war suits me very well. "We have marched all 
through South and East Missouri. I hope our marching 
is very nearly over. We may go to Vicksburg, and if we 
do, and I am well, I hope to help fight that battle, or lose 
my life. I have become so that I don't care for my life. 
I have seen some hard sights. About two weeks ago a 
rebel shot at our general dispatch carrier. The cavalry 
got after him and shot him dead. When we came along 
he was lying beside the road, and his wife and little boy 
were standing there crying. It was a hard sight to see ; 
but he was a guerrilla." 

Gardener Webb always expressed in his letters great 
tenderness for his mother. Writing to his little brothers, he 
says : — 

" Boys, be good to mother. You do not know how to^ 
value her until deprived of her care. I now see the value 
of a kind mother." 

To his mother he writes : — 

" Mother, I don't want you to grieve for me if I am 
taken away. I wHl lie in a soldier's grave. I will have 
but one time to die — am thankful that my life has been 
spared thus far." 

The testimony of his comrades is that " Corporal Webb 
was a true and manly soldier." The following account of 
his death was written by a comrade : — 

" Gard. is dead ! He was killed at the battle of Mag- 
19 



290 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

nolia Grove (Port Gibson). He had fired once, and was 
going to fire again when he was shot — struck near the 
heart. Gard. was a good boy and a brave soldier ; one of 
the best in our comiDany. He died at his post. He never 
spoke, except when he fell he said ' Lord !'.... 
We have had another hard fight since ; lost seventeen men 
in our company. William Harvey was killed — shot 
through the heart. Regiment lost two hundred men in 
three minutes." 

This was at Black River. Webb was a strong, healthful 
soldier. He was buried on the field where he fell. 

WILLIAM R. HAEVEY 

Was born in Shelby County, Indiana, July 15, 1844 ; 
came with his parents to Saylor Grove, Polk County, Iowa, 
when he was thirteen years old. He was an obedient and 
industrious boy. When the war commenced, William said, 
" Somebody has to go, and I might as well go as any one 
else ; and if I get killed, I might as well die there as any- 
where else." He enlisted in Captain Gregg's company, 
•Aug. 3, 1862 ; served, a brave and dutiful soldier, until 
May 17, 1863, when in the charge at Black River he 
was struck down by a rebel bullet, and buried by his com- 
rades on the field where he fell. 

He gives in a letter the following account of the battle 

of Port Gibson : — 

" Port Gibson, Miss., May 3, 1863. 

" My dear Father, — We have had a hard time since 
we crossed the river. We had to fight all the way to Port 
Gibson, and now we are left here to guard the place. 
The Rebels threaten to return and retake it. If they make 
the attempt they will have some fun, for we have never run 
yet, and we are not going to. There are not enough Rebs 
in this State to make us run. The battle commenced April 
29th. about midnight, and lasted till dark the next day. 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 291 

The Rebels say we will not get into Vicksburg. We will 
try it. I think we can go where we please." 

LEMUEL M. CARISON. 

The following letter gives the manner of Carison's 
death ; — 

" Memphis, May 30, 1863. 

" Mr. James Stanton, — I suppose you have heard 
before this of the death of your brother-in-law, Lemuel M. 
Carison. That you may know the particulars of his death 
I have concluded to write and inform you. 

"After the fight at Port Gibson, in which Carison distin- 
guished himself for bravery, we marched to Champion Hills, 
where we found the Rebels. We immediately attacked 
them, and after a hard fight defeated them. We then ad- 
vanced to Black River Bridge, where we found the Rebels 
strongly fortified. Our brigade was stationed behind the 
river bank, to the right of the rebel works. The rebel 
sharp-shooters kept up a continual fire on us. Carison, 
anxious to get a shot at them, mounted upon the river 
bank, and while watching for a chance to shoot, with his 
gun ready, a bullet struck him and passed through his 
breast. He staggered down the bank ; but we caught him 
before he fell and laid him upon his blanket. We were 
ordered then to charge on the rebel works. After we had 
routed the Rebels, we came back and conveyed Carison to 
the hospital, where he died Thursday morning, at nine 
o'clock. He was a brave man, a good friend, and a true 
patriot. He was one of the best soldiers in the regiment. 

" Yours respectfully, 

"WILLIAM CHRISTY." 

Carison was wounded May 17th, 1863, died on the 20th, 
and was buried by the side of Colonel Kinsman and Mr. 
Lyon. He said to Chaplain Barton a short time before he 
died : " I am willing to go. Tell my wife to bring my 



292 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

little boy up a Christian." He became a professor of relig- 
ion after he joined the army. He says, in a letter to his 
wife : " I have no objection to your religious services. I am 
trying to live the same way." 

Again he says : " We have a religious tent now. We 
are trying to do right and live right in the sight of 
God." He was a member of the " Soldiers' Christian 
Band." 

Carison was a carpenter by trade. Came to Des Moines 
in 1855 and was married there. He was born in Maine, 
A. D. 1836. He was a good citizen, a kind husband and 
father. He often said in his letters : " I would like to see 
that little black-eyed boy of mine, and have a romp with 
him." 

SERGEANT JAMES O'BLENESS. 

The following is copied from the diary of Sergeant 
O'Bleness : — 

" May 1. — Commenced the fight at Port Gibson ; came 
out victorious ; lay on the field over night. 

" May 2. — In the morning we started out to begin again, 
and the Rebels had run. We marched to Port Gibson and 
camped. 

" Sunday, May 3. — We are now fixing to march on 
after the Rebels. 

" 3Iay 4. — In camp at Port Gibson. Are ordered to be 
ready to march at a moment's notice. 

" May 5. — Marched about twelve miles and camped. 

" May 6 — Are camped at Willow Springs Creek ; have 
nothing but beef and corn-meal to eat. 

" May 7. — Marched twelve miles and camped ; had 
nothing to eat to-day. 

" May 8. — Still in camp. 

" May 9. — Still in camp. 

" May 10. — Left Rock Springs ; marched ten miles and 
camped. 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 293 

" May 11. — In camp. Heard that the Rebels had evac- 
uated Vicksburg. 

" May 12. — Marched about seven miles and camped in 
the woods. 

" May 13. — On the march. 

"i¥«?/14. — Reached Raymond; marched seven miles 
further and camped. 

" May 15. — Marched back to Raymond ; turned west — 
marched two miles, and camped. 

" May 16. — Marched on to meet the enemy ; drove him 
from the field. 

^^ May 17. — Attacked the enemy at Black River — 
whipped him badly. 

" May 18. — Are guarding the prisoners we took yester- 
day. 

'■^ May 19. — We are now camped at Edwards' Depot, 
guarding prisoners ; started with them towards Vicksburg. 

" May 20. — Camped on the west side of Black River 
with prisoners that we captured. 

" May 21. — Are now in Steamer Luminary, to cross 
the river. 

" May 22. — Camped at Young's Point, guarding pris- 
oners. 

" May 23. — Guarding prisoners at Young's Point ; very 
hot weather. 

" 3Iay 24. — Still in camp, guarding prisoners. 

" May 25. — On board steamer, starting up river with 
prisoners. 

" May 26. — On the way up the river with prisoners. 

" May 27. — Still on our way up ; passed the Arkansas 
River. 

" May 28. — Passed Helena just at day-light. 

" May 29. — Lying at Memphis ; turned over our prison- 
ers, and went aboard another boat. 

" May 30. — Bound for Vicksburg again ; passed Helena 
about four o'clock ; boat fired into twice by guerrillas. 



294 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

"MzySl. — Reached Young's Point at five o'clock in 
the evening. 

'•'• June 1. — In camp at Young's Point. 

" June 2. — Still in camp. 

" June 3. — Still in camp. 

" June 4. — Still in camp. 

" June 5. — Still in camp. 

" June 6. — Still in camp ; were called out in line this 
morning to fight, but we did not have any fight." 

Here the diary of Sergeant O'Bleness ends ; for on the 
morning of Jime 8th, at 8 o'clock, he was killed in the 
battle of Milliken's Bend. He left a wife and seven chil- 
dren. 

Hamilton C. O'Bleness, his eldest son, a printer by 
trade, has prepared a printed tablet in memory of his 
father — a fine specimen of the printer's art. 

"sacred to the memokt of 

SERGEANT JAMES O'BLENESS, 

Of Company C, 23(1 Regiment Iowa Infantry Vols., 

Who was killed 

At the battle of Milliken's Bend, 

June 7, 1863. 

" ' Give me the death of those 
Who for their country die; 
And O, be mine like their repose, 
When cold and low they lie. 

" ' Their loveliest mother, Earth, 
Enshrines the fallen brave ; 
In her sweet lap, who gave them birth, 
They find their tranquil grave.' " 

Sergeant O'Bleness, in his letters, always expressed 
great concern for his children : — 

" May 23. 

" Hamilton, I am glad you get along so well ; I hope you 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 295 

will raise a good crop. Be industrious and get a good 
name — it is worth everything else to you. 

" Lettie J., I wish I could come home and see you all 
once more ; but I may never come home again. You 
must try and be a good girl and get to heaven. I hope 
you will study hard and become a good scholar, so that you 
can teach your little brothers and sisters. 

" Eva and Willie, I often wish that I was at home, to hear 
you talk and tell you stories. I could tell you a great 
many things if I were there. Be good children. I will 
come home some time, perhaps. I know I will if I live." 

To his wife he says : — 

" I have been able to do my share of duty on all occa- 
sions, and I am thankful for it. I often think of you and 
the children ; I thought this morning that I would like to 
sit down with you to breakfast. Fighting is a hard busi- 
ness. I can't say that I like it all. It is what I came 
down here for, and through the providence of God I have 
passed through two very hard fights. I hope that this war 
will soon close, so that we can come home once more. It 
may be that God will smile on us once more, and we 
be permitted to meet again on earth. If not on earth, I 
hope to meet you in heaven. It is my prayer that we 
may meet in heaven. You must pray for me that we may 
meet again ; it may be so — God only knows." 

In his last letter, June 4, he says : — 

"' Sarah, I wish I was at home once more to help you get 
along with the children. I shall come home if I live. Be 
cheerful and do the best you can." 

Sergeant O'Bleness was a devoted Christian. Had been 
a member of the Methodist Church for sixteen years. He 



296 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

went to the army because he felt it to be his religious duty 
to fight for his country. Mrs. O'Bleness says that he 
talked continually about going to the army from the time 
the war began. He could not sleep nights for thinking 
of it. His wife would not consent to his going until so 
many were going from his neighborhood in 1862. He felt 
it a great privilege to go and defend his country as his 
forefathers had done. 

Born in Washington County, Ohio, Feb. 15, 1823, he 
had been a resident of Polk County ten years before enter- 
ing the service. He was shot in the left cheek and killed 
instantly. 

LIEUTENANT WILLIAM H. DOWNS 

Was a young man of extraordinary patriotism, of good ed- 
ucation, and of strictest integrity. The following is a copy 
of one of the last letters ever written by him, and the only 
one that has come into my hands : — 

" Memphis, Tenn., May 29, 1863. 
" My dear Sister, — I feel truly that I am a ' spared 
monument,' when I think of what has happened. We 
crossed the Mississippi on the 30th of April, marched till 
one o'clock the next morning, when we ran into a nest of 
Rebels, near Port Gibson. Then commenced a fight 
which lasted till the next evening. We drove the Rebels 
in rapid flight. Our loss was over seven hundred killed 
and wounded. We kept on marching, sometimes both 
night and day. There were five engagements altogether 
before our army reached the neighborhood of Vicksburg. 
In three of these the Twenty-third has taken part. At 
Black River our regiment led a charge on the enemy's 
works, and captured them. We suffered terribly. Had 
to advance a quarter of a mile through an open field, 
where we were exposed to cross fire, that cut down nearly 
half that started. There were eight small companies in 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 297 

• 
the charge, and of these there were one hundred and fifty 
men killed and wounded. Company C went in with thirty 
men. Two were killed, and sixteen wounded. Our cap- 
tain (J. A. T. Hull) got a bullet through his leg ; Bailey 
Rison of Camp Township, wounded severely in the arm ; 
Stewart Robinson of Rising Sun, also wounded in the arm ; 
J. R. Wilcox of Rising Sun wounded badly in the mouth 
and face. Our regiment suffered more that day than all 
the others engaged. In fact we did the fighting, and had 
possession of their works and fifteen hundred prisoners be- 
fore our support came up. We all regret deeply the loss 
of Colonel Kinsman. He was the idol of the regiment. 
After the battle we marched a lot of prisoners through 
to the Yazoo River, by way of Haines' Bluff. Then we 
took them through to Young's Point and embarked, and 
have been steaming up the river until last evening, when 
we cast anchor in the middle of the river, just opposite 
Memphis, and here we are yet. Vicksburg must fall this 
time. It is completely surrounded and cut off from sup- 
plies. Life is not very certain in the Lower Mississippi at 
present, so to hear of any one's getting a bullet is not 
strange. I have strong hopes that I shall get through and 
come home all right ; at any rate, I intend to keep good 



Born in Barnard, Vt, Aug. 6, 1840 ; came to Ohio in 
1856, and to Rising Sun, Polk County, Iowa, in 1860, 
where he was engaged in teaching school until Aug. 9, 
1862, when he enlisted. His parents now live in Council 
Bluffs, and many of his relatives in Polk County. Second 
Lieutenant of his company, he was highly esteemed as a 
brave and good man. Major Houston of the Twenty-third 
Regiment, says that there was no better soldier, or braver, 
than Lieutenant Downs ; and that he was held in highest 
esteem by the regiment — officers and men. He was killed 
at the battle of Milliken's Bend, June 7, 1863. 



298 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

WILLIAM BULL, 
JOHN T. BULL, 

Were patriotic and brave boys. Their father opposed 
their enlisting, but they felt that the voice of their country 
must be obeyed ; for they were of military age, William 
twenty-one, and John eighteen. 

John was the first man of the Twenty-third Regiment 
who captured a rebel prisoner. He was with the regiment 
until after the battle of Black River Bridsfe. Died June 
14, 1863, on hospital boat Van Buren, of disease. William 
Bull was wounded in the battle of Black River Bridge in 
both legs, and died June 21, 1863, at Memphis, Tenn., of 
wounds. He was also wounded in the shoulder, — struck 
after he had fallen. These brothers had lived in Polk 
County since they were children. William was born in 
Morgan County, Ind., and John in Missouri. They enlisted 
in Allen Township. Their father and family have, since 
the war, moved to Oregon. 

SAMUEL ENEIELD 

Lived with his parents on Keokuk Prairie, Allen Town- 
ship, Polk County ; enlisted in Company C, 23d Iowa, as a 
recruit, March 1, 1864 ; joined the regiment at New Or- 
leans, La. Was soon taken sick with measles, and was 
placed in hospital. When partially recovered, started to 
rejoin his regiment then in Arkansas ; took cold and died 
on board of boat Kate Dale, July 14, 1864, having been in 
the service about four months. Enlisted at the age of 
nineteen ; a young man of good character ; a member of 
the Methodist Church. He was born in Crawford Town- 
ship, Coshocton County, Ohio. 

SERGEANT WILLIAM KYSAR 
Died July 16, 1863, at St. Louis, Missouri, of typhoid fever. 
He came from Page County to Des Moines, to hunt work, 



COMPANY C, TWENTY- THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 299 

in the summer of 1862. Enlisted in Company C, 23d 
Iowa, and was accredited to Saylor Township, Polk County. 
He was elected fourth sergeant, and rose to the posi- 
tion of orderly sergeant of the company ; was in all the 
battles of the campaign against Vicksburg, in which his 
regiment was engaged, until June 1st, when he was taken 
sick. Says Sergeant Thomas Saylor, " Kysar was a number 
one soldier ; moral man ; always at his post." He was born 
in Indiana ; enlisted August 1, 1862 ; aged eighteen. 

JAMES SCARBROUGH 

Was a native of Pennsylvania ; aged twenty-two ; enlisted 
at Mitchellville, Aug. 9, 1862 ; was wounded at Black 
River Bridge, Miss., in the left hand, May 17, 1863, and 
died July 21, 1863, at Memphis, Tenn., of wounds. He was 
a good soldier and brave ; well liked in the company. A 
comrade writes, June 19, — "I was over to the Union Hos- 
pital to see Scarbrough. He looks almost like a dead man. 
He had the finger next to the little one, on the left hand, 
taken out just about half-way up to his wrist. He has to 
lie on the broad of his back all the time and can't turn 
over or get up at all. He is in ward number six, Union 
Hospital, Memphis, Tenn." 

WILLIAM HENRY VICE 

Died July 28, 1863, at Vicksburg, Miss., of disease ; en- 
listed Aug. 9, 1862, at Adelphi, Polk County, Iowa. A 
native of Shelby County, 111. ; born Feb. 2, 1842 ; had 
lived eight years in Four Mile Township, Polk County, 
Iowa, at the time he entered the army, His parents died 
when he was a child. He was a member of the Methodist 
Church ; a good boy, and a good soldier. He was the 
man who captured from the Rebels, the colors of the 15th 
Iowa. These colors were taken from the loth at Shiloh. 
The officers of his regiment promised him promotion ; but 
he died within four weeks after the battle of Black River 



300 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Bridge. It is said that he also shot a rebel general, and 
captured his sword. Vice was a brave man. 

LEWIS N. DAILY 

Was born Oct. 23, 1844, in Ray County, Mo. ; lived with 
his mother in Lee Township, Polk County, Iowa, since 
1847. Mr. Daily died when Lewis was a little child. 
Lewis was his mother's principal stay and help in manag- 
ing her farm. He enlisted as a recruit March 29, 1863. 
Died July 28, 1863, at Vicksburg, Miss., of intermittent 
fever. He joined his regiment first on Matagorda Island, 
Texas. A good and obedient boy to his mother ; enlisted 
because he felt it his duty to do something for his country ; 
died a soldier's death. 

HENRY C. WEST, 

Having passed unscathed through the battles of Port 
Gibson, Black River Bridge, and Milliken's Bend, died of 
typhoid fever in hospital, in rear of Vicksburg, August 5, 
1863. Captain J. A. T. Hull says of this soldier : — 

" He was brave and patriotic. He had been for a long 
time in very poor health, but with a courage and determi- 
nation not to be looked for in one so young, he would not 
leave the company, but chose rather to endure fatigue 
and brave danger with his comrades, than to be sent to the 
hospital. He remained with his company until a few daj^s 
before his death. We all mourn his loss as that of a most 
brave and generous soldier. His body was decently in- 
terred in our regimental burial-ground at Vicksburg." 

Born in Washington County, Ohio, Dec. 19, 1844; "he 
was," says his mother, " always a good boy." An only 
child, a most affectionate son. He wrote many beautiful 
letters to his parents, but relating mostly to private mat- 
ters. The following extracts are of general interest : — 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 301 

" Young's Point, June 16, 1863. 
" Father, I was just thinking about Copperheads. You 
ought to hear the boys in the army curse them. Any man 
in the North that will uphold Southern principles is no bet- 
ter than a dog, and I would not respect him as much as 
I would respect a dog. I wish they were all in the South 
with their friends. I am glad they have sent old Vallan- 
digham across the rebel lines." 

In giving an account of the battle of Milliken's Bend, 
he says of the blacks : — 

" They fought well, and stayed inside of the ditch, until 
they were all killed for the space of about twenty-five 
yards. One company of them went in with thirty-three 
men, and came out with only three. The rest were killed." 

" Camp in Rear of Vicksburg, July 8, 1863. 
" They have quit firing around the lines. The Rebels 
have come out with a flag of truce, and gone to General 
Grant's head-quarters. But what it is for is more than I 
can tell ; but I hope it is for a surrender. It does not 
seem natural here to-day, for there is no shooting going on. 
The boys are lying down in the shade, and part of them 
up on the breast-works, looking at the Rebels, and the 
rebel works." 

Henry C. West had lived in Polk County about four 
years when he became a soldier. His father, Sidney West, 
postmaster at Saylorville, is a most respected citizen. 

COEWIN BROWN FREDEEICK. 

Mr. Frederick got word from Major Houston that his 

son had received a furlough, and was on his way home. 

The major had come with him on the boat. Corwin never 

came. It was a soldier of the same name, a relative of 



302 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Corwin's, who had accompanied the major ; but Corwin 
was lying on his cot in the hospital boat Van Bure7i, a little 
way above Vicksburg, hoping from day to day for a dis- 
charge or a furlough to return home. His father, after this 
disappointment, set out at once for Vicksburg, to bring his 
son (for Mr. Frederick had learned, by this time, of the 
boy's dangerous condition), but he arrived too late. Cor- 
win had been buried on the banks of the great river. The 
father stood by what he supposed to be his child's grave, 
but could not remove the body, because of the heat of the 
summer ; but later it was exhumed and found not to be the 
body of his son. Corwin sleeps in an unknown grave 
about five miles above Milliken's Bend. No comrade 
stood by him when he died; no comrade saw him 
buried. Hospital nurses administered to him while he lay 
on his sick bed ; a surly doctor prescribed for him. No 
mother's hand was there to soften his pillow. He died a 
soldier's death, far from the home he loved. Say not that 
it is stale, the story of a tender boy, who had never before 
been away from the roof that sheltered his infancy. The 
mother would gladly have held him back from enlisting, at 
first ; but she must let him go for the country. 

I remember when he was in Camp Burnside, with the 
Twenty-third ; the evening before the regiment started on 
its march to the river, Corwin wanted to spend that night 
at home. His captain refused him permission ; for, said he, 
" the boys must all be at roll-call in the morning." Corwin 
thought hard of this ; for the boys would have to march 
right by his mother's door. I told him it would not be 
wrong to pass the guard and go without leave, for I thought 
the captain would not object, except that he did not want 
others to go, who lived away from the road. " No," said 
Corwin, " I have come out to soldier, and I will obey 
orders." 

He took part in all of the battles and marches of the 
Twenty-third Eegiment, until after the battle of Milliken's 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 303 

Bend. He passed through all unhurt, when so many of his 
comrades fell around him. But after this battle he was 
placed on picket guard in a swamp, where he remained 
standing on logs and in the water three days and three 
nights, with insufficient food. Here his sickness took a hold 
on him, which proved fatal. The immediate cause of his 
death seems to have been over-exertion. The day before 
he died he received his final discharge. He packed all his 
things in his knapsack, ready to start home the next morn- 
ing ; was in good spirits all day ; though weak, yet able 
to walk about. There was a supply of ice received on the 
boat from the North that day, and it is thought he may 
have drank too freely of the cold water. When a comrade 
came in the morning, who was to accompany him home, he 
found Corwin dead. The nurses were preparing him for 
burial ; a soldier was digging his grave. 

His was a happy life. The hardships he endured as a 
soldier, he bore up under hopefully. He wrote a little 
while before he died, to his mother: "I am glad to say I 
am on the mend. I have been improving for several 
days. I am so that I can walk about, and am in good 
spirits. Father talks of coming down after me. I hope 
to be at home in two or three weeks." His mother said to 
me with tears, " Corwin thought that he would be at home 
in two or three weeks, and he was." 

He never wrote without mentioning his " dear old home." 
He wrote many and beautiful letters, giving particular 
accounts of all the marches and battles in which he had 
taken part. Some extracts from these cannot fail to inter- 
est: — 

PORT GIBSON. 

. . . . " "We kept up a continual firing. At last the 
Rebels commenced running, and of all the hallooing and 
cheering of our boys, it was then ! There were two regi- 
ments fighting us, the 23d Alabama and the 6th ilissis- 



304 AMERTCAX PATRIOTISM. 

sippi ; but the 23d Iowa soon routed them. We lost one 
man out of our company, and he was killed instantly, and 
never knew what hurt him. His name was Gardener 
Webb, of Saylorville. He was a corporal, and one of the 
best boys in our company. I tell you it looked hard to see 
the boys fall. I am not anxious to get into another fight 
soon ; but if I am needed I will do the best I know how." 

BLACK RIVER. 

" As soon as we came up in sight they commenced pour- 
ing the bullets into us as thick as hail, and we had to cross a 
field about a quarter of a mile before we came to the rebel 
works, with six or eight thousand firing at us ; but we made 
it, losing about one third of our regiment killed and 
wounded. It was desperate. As soon as we commenced 
charging, the boys commenced falling. Our company came 
through with about twenty men. Some companies with not 
more than ten or twelve. We had one killed instantly in 
our company and ten wounded. William Harvey, of Say- 
lorville, was killed. I was over the battle-field after the 
battle. The field was covered with the wounded, and it was 
terrible to hear their screams and moans. I was detailed to 
help carry off the wounded and dead. It was very disagree- 
able. Every company carries off its own. It is a wonder 

to me that so many of us got through unhurt 

I was down to the hospital this morning to see the wounded ; 
and it was a dreadful sight to see the limbs that had been 
taken off, — hands, arms, and legs. Some with hands off 
above the wrist, and some above the elbow; some with legs 
off above the ankle, and some above the knee. There 
were forty or fifty limbs lying in one pile, and they had 
buried a lot before I went down. I saw them take off one 
man's leg while I was there. They were about fifteen 
minutes at it. They gave him chloroform, and he did not 
appear to suffer any at all." 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIED IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 305 



MILLIKEN S BEND. 

"There were but two regiments at the Bend besides 
ours, and they were negro regiments. So in the morning, 
about five o'clock, we were ordered off the boat on a 
double-quick ; for the Rebels were within two hundred 
yards of our breastworks, and the breastworks were about 
one hundred yards from the bank. When we got there we 
could see the Rebels coming up in large force, within one 
hundred yards of us. We soon let them know we were 
there. As soon as we fired on them they charged on us, 
and came right up to our breastworks, they on one side, 
we on the other, and there we fought for some little time. 
On the left the men came so close together that they 
bayoneted one another. Two or three boys in Company B 
were wounded with bayonets ; none in our company. *We 
fought some minutes thus, and would have fought longer ; 
but the negro regiment on the left broke and ran to the 
river bank, and that left our regiment to do all the work. 
We were ordered to fall back to the shelter of the bank, 
and while retreating was the time we were cut up so badly. 
Lieutenant Downs and Sergeant O'Bleness were killed. 
With the aid of the gun-boats we finally drove the Rebels 
back into the woods 

" It was a hard fight for the number of men engaged ; 
the hardest V one we have been in yet. This makes three 
for us. I have gone through all of them, and not got a 
scratch. Is it God that has directed me through safe, or is 
it the prayers of a Christian mother ? I have a right to 
believe that it is both. I hope that I shall be spared to 
meet you all again around the family circle. One year ago 
to-day we were all at home, enjoying the comforts of a nice 
home, and peace and quietude." 

He had lived since his infancy with his parents, on their 
beautiful farm six miles east of Des Moines. His days had 

20 



306 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

passed sweetly as the days of a shepherd boy. Son of B. 
F. and Abigail J. Frederick, he was born in Bonaparte, 
Van Buren County, Iowa, Dec. 28, 1844. He died Aug. 
19, 1863. 

Said his mother, weeping, " There was no better boy 
lost in the world than Corwin ; so pleasant, so good dispo- 
sitioned ; always obedient. I anticipated a great deal of 
comfort with him." He was desirous of an education, and 
he had made considerable progress in his studies. He was 
one of my pupils. My tears fall for him as one I love. 

Since the above was penned Mrs. Frederick has been 
called to follow her son. 

When Corwin died, thy hope, thy darling boy, 
A victim of the Southern Davis hate, 
Perished a martyr to preserve the State; 

With him departed, Abigail, thy joy. 

'Tis true he died a soldier's death; but then 
Rebellion slew the mother with the son ; 
Her flesh and blood he was, — their hearts were one. 

Thy wrath, God, be hot 'gainst Avicked men ! 

Thou wast a Christian, truly, Abigail, 
With heart most kind, of Christ-like tenderness, 
Nor wanting fortitude in deep distress ; 

But love too strong bore thee beyond the vail. 

Thou'st met thy boy where sorrow is unknown ; 
Art seated with him on a shining throne. 

PORTER N. DARLING, 

Born in Ohio, September 16, 1838 ; died of disease at New 
Orleans, La., November 14, 1863. Enlisted August 9, 1862. 
His home was near Adelphi, in Camp Township, Polk 
County, Iowa. He was sick much of the time while in the 
service. I glean from his letters that he was a member of 
the Good Templar order. He was a young man of tender 
heart. He says, writing from Van Buren, Mo., December 
25, 1862 : "I have seen some hard sights since I came to 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 307 

Missouri. It makes my very heart ache to see the women 
and children. They are destitute, and the soldiers are 
taking everything before them. The people are bound to 
starve." Though Darling, I apprehend, had never thought 
seriously of religion, in anticijDation of a battle he writes : — 
" Don't put yourselves to any trouble about me ; I will 
trust in Him that rules on high for protection." 

He wrote many letters to his brother, Mr. William A. 
Darling, of Camp Township. From Camp Patterson, Oct. 
^4, 1862, he writes concerning his first experiences as a 
soldier : — 

" I am well and well satisfied. We are down in Dixie. 
I heard it was a hard road to travel, and I found it so ; for 
we have travelled for mil^s on solid rock. We have to drill 
before breakfast, then from nine till eleven, then from three 
till five, and then we have dress parade. We don't have 
much time for loafing. There is a great deal of sickness in 
our regiment. We have lost two by death since we left St. 
Louis. Soldiering agrees with me." 

DAVID MATTERN, 
WILLIAM HENRY MATTERN. 

David Mattern, Wm. H. Mattern, Miles D. Mattern, 
and Winfield Scott Mattern, brothers, sons of Mr. David 
Mattern, of Mitchellville, Polk County, — his sons of 
military age, — were enrolled as volunteer soldiers of the 
Union. Scott, the younger brother, was for nine months a 
prisoner of war in the hands of the Rebels, and suffered 
the privations of Andersonville and Millen ; he is now at 
home. The others are dead. 

David and William H. Mattern enlisted in Company C, 
23d Iowa ; but David was never sworn into the United 
States service, as his mother opposed his enlisting on the 
grounds of his youth and want of bodily strength ; and 



308 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

her premonitions seemed to be true, for he was taken sick 
at home immediately after the regiment went South, and 
never recovered. While on his sick-bed his whole thoughts 
were of the army. " mother, if you had only let me 
go —7 now I can never go ! " he exclaimed at one time. 
" O, the boys are being whipped ; but they will succeed ! " 
One day, opening his eyes and looking at his mother, he 
said, " Colonel Dewey is dead ! " She told him to lie still 
and sleep, and not have such fancies. " Mother, Colonel 
Dewey is dead ! " Sure enough, the news came in a few 
days of Colonel Dewey's death. There are other instances 
recorded of the sick being aware, in certain states of 
delirium, of what is occurring at a distance. It is a kind 
of clairvoyance, or second-sight ; the spirit seems not al- 
ways to be confined to the " earthly house of this taber- 
nacle " even before it has taken its final departure, but 
goes abroad to the ends of the earth. 

At the time of David's death, William Henry was at 
Patterson, Mo„, with the regiment. He writes to comfort 
his mother : — 

" Dear Mother, — You must not take it to heart too 
much. When God chooses to call one of our number 
away, it is our duty to submit resignedly to His Almighty 
will. We all must meet death at some time, and it will be 
no harder one time than another. I know mother we can- 
not help mourning the dear departed ; but let us think him 
one of the throng that are now rejoicing in the better land, 
where parting is known no more. He will be waiting 
there to welcome us among that number. What a happy 
meeting that will be ! I love to dwell on such thoughts. 
Is it not enough to bear one through the trials of this life ? 
I know if it were in our power to keep our dear friends 
with us we would do it ; but God sees proper to call them 
from us and we must submit." 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 309 
Again he says : — 

"Let us trust in 'God, and all will be well. I believe 
whatever God wills is for the best. We may not see 
in what respect at the time ; but the future reveals what 
was concealed. Dark clouds may gather thick and fast 
and all be gloom, but the sun will eventually shed his 
brilliant light around once more, seeming brighter than 
ever." 

Again : — 

"Dear Father and Mother, — I have no doubt in 
my mind — I believe he is now with other friends that 
have gone before, singing the praises of God ; and I be- 
lieve we will all meet him there." 

And to his sister he says : — 

« He has gone to join that happy throng that sing the 
praises of God through all eternity. We ought rather to 
rejoice than lament." 

These extracts serve to show that Harry was a pure and 
noble boy. In writing of Colonel Kinsman's death, Harry 
says : — 

" Mother, inclosed you will find a photograph of Colonel 
Kinsman, who fell in the charge at Black River. I think 
he was as good a man as ever trod on the soil. I want 
good care taken of the picture." 

He writes of himself: — 

"Dear Mother, — You must not cause yourself so 
much uneasiness about me. The same God protects me 
here as at home ; I can trust in Him." 



310 • AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

*' Camp near Iberia, La., Nov. 1, 1863. 
" One does not know the value of friends until he has 
been once separated from them. I ofttimes think of home 
and its enjoyments. 0, what happy, happy hours I have 
spent with dear friends at home ! I will leave this subject, 
or you may think I am getting homesick. My country 
needs me here, and though I am a soldier and far away 
from home, I can still think of it." 

" Fort Esperanza, Texas, Bee. 21, 1863. 
" I will try and describe to you the place of our sojourn. 
The fort is built on Matagorda Island. Matagorda Bay 
lies between us and the main-land and is near three miles 
across. The island is forty miles long ; the width I have 
never ascertained. Next the beach there is nothinor but 
sand ; back a half mile there is plenty of good grass. No 
timber grows on the island. There are plenty of cattle 
and horses running wild, and deer. As soon as we get 
fixed up I mean to go out and have a grand old hunt. 

" HARRY.'? 

" Barracks, U. S. General Hospital, New Orleans, \ 

Jan. 27, 1864. ] 

" He requested me to say to you that he was prepared to 
die, and was not afraid to meet his God; that he died 
in a good cause. Mattern told me this shortly after he 
came to this hospital. 

" This war has caused weeping and mourning in many 
families throughout the land ; but the day is not far distant 
when peace will be restored to our distracted country, and 
a grateful people will cherish the memory of those who 
have fallen in her defense. 

"RICHARD GAWLEY, 

Company D, 128th New York." 

" Mattern showed a willingness at all times to share the 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 311 

dangers of battle as well as the trials and troubles of a 
soldier's life. He would not leave the regiment to so to 
the hospital. He was taken sick with chronic diarrhoea 
while on the march to the rear of Vicksburg, about the 2d 

or 3d of May. 

" BENJAMIN JENNINGS, 

Captain, Company C, 23d Iowa.'''' 

" Hd.-Qrs., 23d Iowa Vols., Indianola, Texas, 1 

Feb. 27, 1864. j 

" Dear and much esteemed Bro. Mattern, — I 
received the painful intelligence a few days since that your 
beloved son Harry was no more. He died at New Orleans, 
La., on the 23d day of January, 1864. Your son was a 
good boy, and I am satisfied that he was prepared to go. 
He was very anxious to see you all. He had a bright 
future before him if it had been the will of Providence to 
spare his life. But the struggle is over, and he rests secure 
beneath the shadow of the Almighty's throne. 

" Harry was beloved by all the regiment. He was pleas- 
ant and cheerful. Although not required to go into the 
engagements (being Q. M. S. of the regiment), yet at 
Port Gibson he took his musket, and on that memorable 
day he was in the midst of the fight. He was a brave 
soldier and a true patriot. 

" After I returned to the regiment I was satisfied that 
Harry ought to be discharged. It was, however, a hard 
matter to get him to consent to leave the regiment, but he 
finally concluded to accept of a discharge. He left on the 
17th of January for his home, in company with Captain 
Evans ; but his constitution was too far broken, and instead 
of reaching his earthly home, he went to the heavenly. 

" My sympathies are truly with you in your afflictions. 

" A. J. BARTON, 

Chaplain 23d lowa.^^ 



312 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

William H. Mattern was born in Mechanicsville, Hun- 
tington County, Penn. Had resided in Polk County eight 
years when he enlisted at the age of twenty-two. Miles D. 
Mattern belonged to the 47th Iowa, and died in Helena, 
Ark. 

The remains of these three were brought home and 
buried in the grave-yard at Mitchellville, and appropriate 
monuments placed over the graves by the afflicted family. 

JOHN W. SHERRILL, 
ELISHA C. SHERRILL. 

Elisha C. Sherrill was born in Lincoln, Lincoln 
County, N. C, Nov. 25, 1835 ; he came to Iowa in 1846, and 
to Polk County in 1847, where he resided when the war 
broke out ; married and living in Saylor Township ; had 
been married about four years. Three brothers enlisted at 
the same time, Elisha, John, and William. The two latter 
served through the war, and were discharged July 25, 1865. 
Elisha was with his company in all of its marches and bat- 
tles until Dec. 5, 1864, when he came home on sick fur- 
lough, and was never permitted to return, but died at home 
of bronchitis and chronic diarrhoea, March 27, 1865, and 
was buried in the grave-yard near Saylorville. He was re- 
signed to his death. He thought that if he had come 
home earlier he would have lived. His last words were, 
" They kept me a soldiering a little too long ; now I must 
go." He requested a short time before he died to be bur- 
ied wrapped in his country's flag, which was accordingly 
done. Sherrill had many friends. He was a true and 
noble soldier ; a respected citizen ; a kind husband ; a 
good man ; a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Since writing the above, John Sherrill has also died. 
After the war he spent a short time amongst his friends in 
Polk County, and then went to Galveston, Texas, where he 
died during the summer of 1867, of yellow fever. Nothing 
can be said truthfully against the good name of John 



COMPANY C, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 313 

Sherrill, while much may be said in his praise. I was well 
acquainted with him. He was formerly connected with my 
school (Forest Home Seminary) as a student. Earnest in 
the pursuit of knowledge, he was a noble example of the 
industrious, studious, conscientious, brave American boy. 



COMPANY D, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

JOHN H. JOURNEY 

Was sixteen years old ; his mother a widow ; he had to 
work hard for her support ; was her only reliance ; the boys 
were all enlisting; he wanted to go, too. He loved his 
mother dearly ; he said to her one day, " Mother, I can 
save as much money in the army and send to you, as I can 
make at home ; and if I die, then you will draw a pension." 
He could not sleep nights, he was so anxious to go ; and 
he entreated until she consented. The regiment was at 
Camp Burnside, in Des Moines, just four miles from John's 
home. He bade his mother good-by, went to Des Moines, 
and enlisted in Company D, 23d Iowa, July 26, 1862. 
" He never spent a cent of his pay," says she, " but sent it 
all to me." He says, Feb. 6, 1863, " We are now at West 
Plains ; we are going to be paid in a few days ; I will send 
it home the first chance I get. I intend to take care of my 
money, for I don't chew tobacco now ; and when I can get 
a good and sure way of sending my money to you, I will 
do so." His mother says, " He was a hard w^orking farmer 
boy, and loved his country." He says in one of his letters : 

" I heard that J , S , L , and B , have been 

shaking with ague ever since the late draft has commenced. 
Tell them to keep in good spirits, and I will send them 
some dog-wood bark, and persimmons, and sassafras, and 
spice-wood, and a little secesh whiskey, as they all grow 
spontaneously here in this God-forsaken place, and never 
fail of curing the ague." 



COMPANY D, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 315 

He was in the battles of Port Gibson, and Black Elver 
Bridge. He died of disease June 22, 1863, on board 
steamer /. B. Taylor, and was buried probably, at Helena. 
Born in Carroll County, 111., Oct. 18, 1846. His home had 
been on Agency Prairie, Polk County, Iowa, with his 
mother, since he was a child. 



COMPANY E, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

WILLIAM SUNDAY, 

Though a resident of Story County (his home being near 
the College Farm), enlisted for and was accredited to 
Des Moines ; his name, therefore, properly belongs in this 
collection. He was a native of Pennsylvania ; thirty-four 
years old ; enlisted August 4, 1862, and died at Camp Pat- 
terson, Mo., Dec. 22, 1862, of inflammatory rheumatism. 
He was a strongly-built man ; a farmer ; left a wife and 
three children ; was prompt to do duty as a soldier ; and as 
a citizen he was highly respected. " He was a good sol- 
dier," says Captain Houston. 

JOHN Q. JAMESON. 

" One of the best young men I ever knew," says Judge 
Baylies ; he enlistedjfrom Walnut Township, Polk County, 
Iowa ; a large man, but not of robust constitution ; was 
taken sick of typhoid fever shortly after he enlisted, but re- 
covered his health enough to be put on duty. He did a 
great deal of hard duty before he died, and did it promptly 
and cheerfully. Aged twenty-one ; a native of Indiana ; 
enlisted August 16, 1862, and died January 29, 1863, at 
Rolla, Mo., of disease. " A kind-hearted and generous 
young man ; very quietly disposed ; moral in his habits ; 
never profane," his neighbors say. His mother a widow ; 
he was her support and stay. " He was a good man," says 
Captain William E. Houston. 



COMPANY E, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 3l7 

COKPORAL WILLIAM WILSON 

Was a conscientious Christian soldier ; he always carried 
his Bible and hymn book with him. He lost his wife at 
Rolla, Mo., where he lived previous to the war. He came 
to Des Moines in the spring of 1861, and entered Forest 
Home Seminary as a student, preparatory to entering the 
ministry ; but enlisted July 18, 1862 ; aged thirty ; a native 
of Ohio. He was killed at Milliken's Bend, June 7, 1863 ; 
left one child — an orphan indeed. " Wilson," says a com- 
rade, V. S. Martin, " was one of the best soldiers I ever 
knew." " One of the best kind of boys," says his captain. 

JACOB L. SPRINGER. 

I CANNOT do justice to the memory of one so good and 
true. Springer was an intimate friend of mine. A nobler 
sacrifice was never given to the cause of freedom than was 
the life of this man. He fell at Milliken's Bend, June 7, 
1863, having passed unhurt through the battles of Port 
Gibson and Black River Bridge. He was an unmarried 
•man ; had been a resident of Polk County about four years. 
His home was Mt. Vernon, Ohio. He fell at the age of 
twenty-eight. Enlisted August 15, 1862. " Springer was 
one of the best men in the company ; intelligent, and 
prompt to do duty," says Captain Houston. 

LUTHER W. STANHOPE 

Was a good soldier ; a relative of Rev. V. P. Fink ; his 
mother is a widow, and lived before and during the war in 
Allen Township, Polk County, Iowa. Stanhope was killed 
in action at Milliken's Bend. He was seen to fall about 
the same time with, and near by Robert Fink. The regi- 
ment, before burying its dead, marched down the river 
about two miles to protect the hospital, when it came back, 
collected and buried its dead. In the mean time the ne- 



318 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

groes had been busy burying the dead, and it is supposed 
they buried Stanliope, for his body was never found. Born 
in Indiana; enlisted Aug. 12, 1862, and was killed, as it is 
believed, June 7, 1863, aged twenty-four. " A very steady, 
moral young man ; a good soldier," says Captain Houston. 

ROBERT H. FINK. 

Rev. V. P. Fink sent all of his sons — three loyal and 
brave young men — to defend the flag of our country. 
From their parents they inherited a living love of liberty, 
God, and right, and an uncompromising patriotism. John, 
of whom we have already written, a member of Company 
B, 10th Iowa, fell a victim to disease at Mound City, Mo. 
Robert, a member of Company E, 23d Iowa, was killed at 
Milliken's Bend, La., Jime 7, 1863. William, the surviving 
brother, member also of Company E, says in a letter writ- 
ten shortly after the engagement : — 

'• On the evening of the 6th, orders came for our regi- 
ment to go to Milliken's Bend. Company E went into the 
battle with nineteen men, and came out with six. Robert 
was waving his hat and cheering the boys on, when he was 
shot, and supposed killed ; but he revived and did not die 
till evening. He appeared not to be in misery, but lay 
quiet and easy. I know how he lived, and have the blessed 
consolation of knowing that he was prepared to die. I 
often think of his and John's meeting in heaven, how 
happy they are, and that they will never part again." 

Robert, like John, was a devoted Christian. He was 

married, and left a wife and children to whom he was 

greatly attached. In the last letter he ever wrote to his 

wife he says : — 

" Young's Point, June 3, 1863. 

" It is a source of great comfort to me to know that you 

put your trust in Him who is able and willing to comfort 



COMPANY E, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 319 

and sustain you in all your trials. I assure you that I 
never forget you at any time, for it is for^ou and our little 
darlings I want to live. A man's family is one of the most 
enlivening influences that he has while buffeting the storms 
and tempests of a soldier's life. At times one would be 
tempted to give up in despair, had he not something more 
than his own personal interests to contend for. There are 
times, and they are not few, when, if a person were to 
allow his thoughts to dwell upon the present scenes, and 
allow himself to be overcome by gloomy reflections, he 
would be tempted to improper acts. Such would not be 
the part of a soldier. Yet, those who have families have 
more to stimulate them to endure privations and hardships. 
At any rate it appears so to me. Often when I am tired 
and hungry, after a hard day's march through rain, mud, 
or dust, and sit down to rest, the thoughts of my wife 
and little ones at home (and I always think of them) 
seem to make me feel more vigorous, encouraging me to 
press forward, with the idea that it is for them and not for 
myself that I am contending." 

EXTRACTS FROM ROBERT H. FINK's JOURNAL. 

"August 11, 1862. — I have this day enlisted in the 
United States service, not because I wished to be a soldier, 
but because I felt it my duty to do so. I may not live to 
get back to my family again ; but be this as it may, I feel 
that I am in the line of duty, and I do not hesitate to pur- 
sue it. I think I have enlisted in a company where I will 
have good society, and where I can enjoy religious privi- 
leges. 

"Sept. 21. — This has been a solemn Sabbath to me, as I 

^had to bid farewell to-day to my family and friends, possibly 

for the last time in this world. Yet I feel that I am in the 

line of duty and I do so willingly. Should it be our last 

interview on earth, may God graiit us a reunion in heaven. 

" October 12 (at Iron Mountain). — This was as beautiful a 



320 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Sabbath morn as I ever saw, and I felt as if I only lacked 
the presence of my family to make it as happy a day as I 
ever experienced. 

"Oc^. 19. — We commenced to hold family prayer in our 
tent to-night, as we are now so situated that we can do so 
consistently. 

" Oct. 26, Sabbath. — We have had no meeting to-day, 
which makes it feel quite lonesome. 

" Nov. 9. — This day has been a lovely Sabbath. We 
had a splendid sermon from Captain Goolman at half-past 
two, and then from Captain Roach this evening. Alto- 
gether, this day has been spent the nearest right of any 
Sabbath since I have been in the army. At any rate I have 
enjoyed it about the best of any. 

" Nov. 1 6, Sabbath. — There has been decided improve- 
ment in our regiment within the past week. I think that 
there is not more than one fourth the profanity there was 
previous to last Sabbath's sermons. Certainly a great and 
crlorious change. Singing is taking place of card-playing in 
many of the tents. So much for the right kind of influence. 
Our Tuesday evening prayer-meeting and Friday night 
sermon have also had their influence for the better. If 
we can only keep up our meetings we shall do well." 

Says the aged and Christian father, — 

" Cool and collected, firm and persevering, cheerful and 
resigned to the allotments of Providence, Robert died as 
he lived, a brave, good, true Christian patriot." 

SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ROBERT HENRY 

FINK. 

(Written by his father — Rev. V. P. Fink.) • 

" Robert Henry Fink was born in Scott County, Mo., 
Sept. 24, 1836. In early youth he became a lover of 
truth, honesty, justice, and kindness, and these virtues 



COMPANY E, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 321 

entered into his early habits of life, and were among his 
brightest ornaments and richest possessions in manhood. 
When about twelve years old he became pious, joined the 
M. E. Church, and lived an active and useful member of 
the same. At the time he entered the service of his coun- 
try he was a class-leader, Sunday-school superintendent, 
and recording steward. He had no desire for military life ; 
avoided notoriety, and only sought to do his duty in his 
country's service. At peace with all, he was loved and 
esteemed by all who knew him. After going into the ser- 
vice he was no less pious than in the past. He patiently 
endured the hardships of the campaign. Though occasion- 
ally sad, yet he uttered no complaints. He never went 
into battle without being fully prepared for the worst. He 
fell while cheering on his comrades. His brightest orna- 
ment was the sweetness and evenness of his temper. He 
left a widow and two infant 43,ughters to mourn his loss. 
He was a most affectionate and dutiful son, a kind and 
loving brother, a tenderly affectionate husband and parent. 
" In view of the sad bereavement of his family, I deem it 
vastly preferable that he should have fallen a true patriot 
in his country's service battling for the right, than to have 
lived and been a sympathizer with traitors, and thus become 
a partner in all the crimes and bloodshed resulting from 

the slaveholders' Rebellion. 

" V. P. F." 

JOHN M. ROSECRANS. 

I WENT with Mr. J. C. Jordan to the quiet cemetery on 
his farm, to visit Rosecrans' grave. I found it surrounded 
by a pretty white paling, with handsome marble slabs at 
head and foot, placed there by the bereaved wife, who had 
the deceased brought home and buried, with the following 
inscription on his tombstone : — 
21 



322 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" JOHN M. ROSECRANS, 

Company E, 23d Iowa Regiment, 

Died at St. Louis, Mo., July 11, 1863, 

Aged 26 years, 8 months. 

" What to us is life without thee ? 
Darkness and despair alone ! " 

He was married to Miss Sutton, of Dallas County, Iowa, 
the day before he left for the war, and he never saw her 
again until a few days before he died. She heard of his 
sickness and went immediately to St. Louis, where she found 
him in the hospital, very low. He looked up and smiled on 
seeing her. She stayed by his cot and nursed him while he 
lived. Can the history of these scenes be written in words ? 
Can the anguish of the heart, the crushed hopes, be made to 
appear in print ? These sad histories are many. War is 
but another name for woe. <, 

Freemen 'neath the flag are falling; 

Love, their words I must obey ; 
To the patriot they are calling, 

Stand for Liberty to-day ! 

Cruelty and usurpation 

Cannot rend our land in twain; 
I may perish; but the nation — 

It will grow and bloom again. 

Mr. Jordan gave me the following account of Rosecrans' 
character : — 

" He was a young man of promise. He lived in my 
family for several years, and accompanied me to New 
York on business two or three times. I sent him across 
the Lakes with cattle, and intrusted him with important 
duties, and I always found him trustworthy. His parents 
were poor, and he grew up in the school of adversity ; but 
his virtues were many. He was well acquainted with the 



COMPANY E, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 323 

world — loved his country and hated its enemies. He was 
good natured and fond of a joke. His means of education 
were limited, though he employed his opportunities dili- 
gently, and gained much useful information." 

He was in all the battles and marches of the remment 
up to the time of his sickness — Port Gibson, Black River 
Bridge, and Milliken's Bend. Hon. N. Baylies, on the 
occasion of Rosecrans' funeral, pronounced an oration, 
which is a beautiful tribute to the memory of the deceased. 
The following are the opening and closing paragraphs : — 

" It is with feelings of profound sorrow that we meet for 
the purpose of paying the last sad tribute of respect to the 
remains of the gallant dead. John Rosecrans, whose loss 
we deplore, a few months since mingled with us in the 
social circle, and in peaceful pursuits. Bright and joyous 
prospects appeared to open before him. Beloved by a 
large circle of friends — endeared to those who knew him 
— according to the ordinary course of events, he could 
count upon many years of earthly happiness. An all-wise 
Creator has otherwise determined, and has allotted to him 
the noblest of all deaths — to die in the service of his 
country, and in maintenance of that great legacy of liberty 
bequeathed to us by our Revolutionary heroes and patriots. 
But while his death was that of a patriot, he has also, with 
thousands of our best and noblest, fallen a victim to the 
most odious and detestable conspiracy that ever disgraced 
the pages of history — a conspiracy to destroy the best 
government, to degrade labor, to fetter liberalism, to 
extinguish democratic principles, and to make the many 
hewers of wood and drawers of water for the few. 

" He, whose remains are before us, detested the con- 
spirators against the government, and had no sympathy for 
their friends and abettors. He felt that the principles of 



324 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

freedom were engaged in a death-struggle with those of 
despotism ; that if the Union went down, free speech and 
free press and free men went down with it, and an oh'garchy 
would be established upon the ruins, that would throttle 
freedom on this continent, and discourage its friends abroad, 
be hailed with joy by foreign despots, and would ride rough- 
shod over the toiling millions who viewed labor as honor- 
able, and who were unwilling to be stigmatized as ' mud- 
sills.' With his feelings and sympathies so strongly en- 
listed in favor of the Union and liberty, he rushed to the 
defense of his country's flag, determined to bear it aloft or 
perish in its defense. Joining the 23d Iowa, he shared in 
the toilsome marches, the privations and noble victories of 
that noble regiment of heroes, until stricken down by dis- 
ease, which terminated his earthly career. Like Cornish, 
and Lloyd, and Ashworth, and Jamison, and Mott, whom 
Walnut Township will prize as her noble sons who have 
died for their country, he will fill a soldier's grave, and his 
name be held in grateful remembrance. To his bereaved 
widow, called thus early to weep over the departed, and 
whose haj)py prospects have been suddenly and unexpect- 
edly darkened by the curtains of death, and to his sorrow- 
ing relatives, by whom he was so dearly loved, we tender 
our deepest sympathies, and as a community we mingle in 
their sorrows and lament the dead." 

When thou art sad, O reader, go and kneel by the grave 
of the departed soldier, and let thy tears flow for him who 
lies buried there ; and thy prayers go up to God for bless- 
ings on our beloved country, established and preserved by 
the blood of departed heroes. 



COMPANY F, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

JOHN N. POLLOCK, 
Of Polk City, enlisted at the age of fifteen ; his father 
consenting, because, says Mr. Pollock, "John was so 
anxious to go it was useless to refuse him permission." 
His story is nearly the same as that of the many of his age 
who went into the army. He bore up under the fatigues 
and exposure of camp and march for a few months, and 
then died. Recruiting officers were too willing to accept 
of young boys to fill up their companies, thus securing 
themselves commissions. So these " little ones " were 
marched forth to war — their ardor continuing only for a 
brief period, when, overcome by fatigue, they yielded to dis- 
ease and homesickness. " If I could see mother now, and 
have her tender care, how soon would this fever leave me. 
The cold water from the old well, and the milk and butter 
and fruits, and my little brothers and sisters to be near 
me — if I were only at home ! " 

" Home, home, sweet home " is all the young soldier 
thinks of by day and dreams of by night, while he is sick — 
until he goes to sleep, and is put in the little rough board 
box, and let down into the silent grave ; and the echo dies 
away of the three volleys fired over him. Thus was it with 
little John, who so patriotically went forth at the tender 
age of fifteen to fight for his country. 

John N. Pollock died Jan. 3d, 1863, just three days after 
Charlie Hepburn, and was buried at Ironton, Mo., in the 



326 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 



village grave-yard. He was born in Union Countv, Ohio, 
June 14, 1847. He enlisted Aug. 22, 1862, as a musician.' 
He had resided in Polk County, Iowa, with his parents 
since 1856. His brother, Robert Pollock, a member of 
the 10th Iowa, served through the war. 



COMPANY G, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

SERGEANT DANIEL J. STURGEON. 
ARCHIBALD STURGEON. 

These were brothers ; enlisted from Camp Township, 
Aug. 15, 1862. Archibald died of fever at Iron ton, Mo., 
Jan. 21, 1863, and was brought home by his brother for 
burial. Daniel J. Sturgeon, first sergeant of Company G, 
23d Iowa, was killed in action at Milliken's Bend, La., 
June 7, 1863. " No terms of praise are too extravagant 
with which to portray the characters of these young men 
as soldiers," say their comrades. " Just as good boys as 
ever lived — moral in every respect." Their letters show 
that they dearly loved their parents, brothers, and sisters. 
Daniel was married, and left a wife and daughter, to whom 
he was greatly attached. These brothers were born in 
Ross County, Ohio : Daniel, April 21, 1836 ; Archibald, 
May 24, 1840. They had been living in Camp Township, 
Polk County, Iowa, eight years, at the time they entered 
the army. 

GEORGE W. FOX. 

In the remotest parts of our country, in the most obscure 
neighborhoods, and in the humblest cabins, seated by the 
old-fashioned fire-place in the long winter evenings, is to 
be seen the ambitious boy, poring over the pages of Locke 
or Milton, his soul animated with hope and filled with a 
determination to write his name in indelible letters upon 
the pages of his country's history ; or, leaning upon his 



328 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

mother's loom, with the newly woven web for his table, 
he is inditing sentiments like these : — 



" Adelphi, Iowa, July 22, 1861. 

" 0, perplexity of mind and dissatisfaction of situation ! 
The past is a blank ; the present, nothing ; the future, an 
uncertainty ; and then the emergency of the times in con- 
sequence of the war ; and oppressed as I am in conse- 
quence of a poverty-stricken condition ; who would, under 
these circumstances, dare to make the attempt to accom- 
plish anything of importance in this world ? I answer, 
but few, I am satisfied. As for my part, I am determined, 
by the grace of God, to make a grand and desperate effort, 
and leave the result with Providence ; for it is said, that he 
that aims high will hit high. 

" I do not agree with those who say, ' This world is all 
right, that it is unnecessary to try to improve it, for it is just 
as God wants it,' nor with those who say, ' There is nothing 
in education.' It is true I do not think education to consist 
of knowledge of precepts of books alone When I am 
dead and laid in the silent grave, may Heaven grant that 
it may not be truthfully said of me, that ' He lived in the 
world without the world being materially benefited by his 
living in it — passed through life like a bird through the 
air, leaving no trace behind to prove that he once lived and 
moved and had a being ; or, if any, only the story told by 
his relatives, or his name written now and then on deed or 
other document of the kind, or lauded only by the political 
dogs of the day, who are willing to sacrifice government 
and peace on the altar of ambition for office.' 

" There are two orders of men in the world, — the good 
and the evil. Not that the first actually do good all the 
time, and the others evil ; but the former strive to do good 
at all times ; consider themselves accountable beings ; ex- 



COMPANY G, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 329 

pect to render a full account before a just God for the 
deeds done in the body, whether good or evil ; while the 
latter (the evil) try to banish all thoughts of death and 
judgment and necessary preparation to meet God, and go 
on in pursuit of present enjoyment, worldly pleasure ; not 
allowing themselves to seriously reflect upon their course 
of conduct for fear of conviction ; for they know that they 
are not justifiable before God or man. 

Now this latter class is so numerous, it stands all in 
hand who wish the advancement of the human family in 
the scale of morality, to be up and doing while it is called 
to-day. Life bears us along down the stream of time, like 
the current of a mighty river, and the farther we go the 
more rapid the current becomes, and the more numerous 
the rocks and bars. At times we think, while passing 
through the rapids of disappointment; and over the discour- 
aging bars and quicksands of poverty, that we shall never 
reach the haven of usefulness and honor. But if we hoist 
high to the heavenly breezes the mainsail of virtue, and 
press on with undaunted courage and perseverance, we may 
pass safely over, and arrive joyfully at the destined port. 
But if we become discouraged, and fail to apply the rud- 
der of self-government, we will be forced to follow the 
strong current, and become entangled amongst the floating 
debris of the surrounding country ; we will undoubtedly 
rush into the vortex of ruin and despair. In consequence 
of the foregoing and other considerations, it becomes my 
imperative duty to improve the time with energy. I feel 
responsible to God for the manner in which I use my time, 
and employ my intellect ; for I have been given the power 
of discerning between good and evil ; and as I choose, so 
will my reward be in the end, when the final settlement is 
made between the creature and the Creator ; and believing 
this fact established by the teachings of reason and com- 
mon sense, natural religion and divine revelation, I feel 
desirous of receiving a good reward ; and as there is no 



3^0 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

way of deserving it, except by performing good works, I 
am resolved by the grace of God, to strive against all sur- 
rounding foes, for the glorious acceptance, and to procure 
the blissful reward. 

"I will soon leave the blissful isle of home, to land I 
know not where ; but I know that I shall one day arrive in 
the harbor of eternity. I am determined by my own efforts 
and His aid to rise, to climb, to ascend, to soar, until I gain 
a lofty position, whence I can look out upon the scenes by 
which I am surrounded, and behold with delight the e\d- 
dences of His wisdom, power, and glory, who has created all 
things in beauty and perfection ; and, if I die in the strug- 
gle, I want to die at my post, doing good or aiming to pre- 
pare myself for usefulness. I expect to sail out upon the 
ocean of an almost friendless world ; yet, thanks be to God, 
not quite so, for there are some Christians in it ; and 
Jesus is our friend and example. In Him I put my trust, 
and His directions I expect to obey. 

" May the Eternal God, through our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ, assist me on my journey through life, that I 
may live a Christian and die a Christian, and I will sing 
the praises of God and the Lamb now and forever. Amen. 

" Written by George W. Fox, just before he expected to 
bid a final adieu to the home of his childhood." 

He was born in Clay County, Indiana, July 19, 1841 ; 
and he came with his parents to Iowa, in 1848. " He was 
a noble young man," says Mr. Colwell, of Camp Town- 
ship, " and had a good education, which he dug out him- 
self." He had mastered the common English branches and 
algebra, and had made some progress in Latin. He read 
whatever good books he could get hold of. When he had 
a moment's time from labor, he improved it in study. He 
read Milton's " Paradise Lost," and Locke's " Essay on 
the Understanding," until he had them almost by heart. 
He enlisted Aug 15, 1862, and died March 26, 1863, at 
Ironton, Mo., of measles. 



COMPANY G, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 331 
He says, in a letter dated Feb. 12, 1863: — 

" Some of you talk of my coming home. That is un- 
necessary; for I went into the service of my own accord, 
and whenever they get tired of me I will come home and 
not till then." 

The following is worthy of preservation : — 

" District No. 6, District-Township of Camp, in the 
County of Polk, and State of Iowa, Oct. 21, 1861, the day 
on which G. W. Fox begins a public school in said district 
for the term of three months, and for the consideration of 
twenty-eight dollars per month. How he will succeed time 
must prove. He expects to encounter some difficulties as a 
natural consequence, but he intends to pursue a straight- 
forward course in rendering equal justice to all. 

MOTTO FIRST. 

" A little said, but truly said, 
Can greater good impart, 
Than hosts of words that reach the head, 
But do not touch the heart." 

MOTTO SECOND. 

'' A voice that wins its sunny way 

A school-room group to cheer, 

Hath oft the fewest words to say, 

But 0, those few how dear! " 

" Monday morning early found me at the school-house 
armed and equipped, and ready for action, fully prepared to 
meet anything and everything that might oppose me in the 
discharge of my duty in the school-room. The scholars 
came, it seemed to me, quite tardy. It was an anxious hour 
that I passed before the scholars gathered in. I longed to 
get started. At last the time arrived : the scholars were 
there, and all was right. The day passed off very well, 
though I felt quite awkward in my new position ; yet I had 



332 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

nothing to comjDlain of the first day of the first school 
taught by me. The first week passed away, the second, 
and third — without any difficulty ; school averaging about 
eighteen ; all seeming to take an interest in the school, and 
accordingly they learned very fast. Having so few scholars, 
I employed my time in hearing them recite a greater num- 
ber of times. 

" The school has now been taught, and I have got about 
all of my pay and none the worse ofi* by the operation, 
mentally or physically ; but on the contrary much improved 
in both respects — especially the former ; for I have both 
enlarged and improved my stock of information, at the 
same time establishing my character as a school-teacher. 
I am conscious of having done my duty. 

"GEORGE W. FOX. 
" Adelphi, Iowa, January 26, 1862." 

ENOCH HARLAN, 

A GOOD soldier, was killed at Milliken's Bend, La., June 
7, 1863. Born in Porter County, Indiana, July 10th, 
1843, he had been living in Polk County, Iowa, two years 
when he entered the service, residing with his parents in 
Camp Township. A young man of good morals ; he used 
no bad language. His letters show that he was greatly at- 
tached to his country. " I go to the army," he says, " not 
for the pay, but to help save my country ; and if I die 
there I shall not have to go again." 

He says, June 4th, 1863 : — 

" This war has made a man of me. If I get home, I 
would not take all the money there is in the South for 
what I have seen and learnt. I have learnt faster than 
ever I did when I went to school." 



COMPANY G, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 333 

SERGEANT JACOB B. MOON 

Lived before the war near Apple Grove, in Polk County ; 
a sterling patriot, a dutiful soldier, and a good officer ; en- 
listed Aug. 15, 1862 ; a native of Ohio ; aged twenty- 
eight ; killed June 7, 1863, at Milliken's Bend, in action. 

JOHNATHAN W. POWERS 

Was a resident of Polk County since 1850, until he 
entered the service ; home near Lovish Grove ; born in 
Montgomery County, Indiana ; he died at Young's Point, 
La., of disease, June 30, 1863. He was a favorite among his 
comrades ; a good soldier. He left many relatives in Polk 
County — two brothers, Stephen and Francis. His home 
had been for some years with Mr. Barlow Granger and 
Dr. Wilson. He passed unhurt through the battles of 
Port Gibson and Black River Bridge. 

JACOB BOYER 

Lived with Mr. Calvin Brockett, of Camp Township, Polk 
County, Iowa, during nine years prior to the war. He was 
an upright young man. His father and mother both died 
when he was a child, but he was reared by a pious grand- 
mother. Says Mr. Brockett, " He was virtuous, truthful, 
and honorable in- every respect." Born in Highland 
County, Ohio ; he died July 13, 1863, at Milliken's Bend, 
La., of disease. 

RICHARD HAMMER 

Enlisted in Company G, Twenty-third Regiment, Aug. 
15, 1862 (residence marked " Des Moines" in the Adju- 
tant-General's Report — though I have not been able to 
find any of his relatives). He died Aug. 6, 1863, at Mem- 
phis, Tenn., of disease, aged thirty-three. 



334 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 



GUSTAVUS V. COWGILL 
Came to Polk County, Iowa, in 1853, and lived in Peora 
City. Enlisted August 15, 1862, leaving at home a wife 
and four children. He was thirty-four years of age. He 
said to his wife, " This war must be fought through ; I am 
no better than other men." He s§ys again : — 

"Carlton, La., Aug. 31, 1863. 
" I do hope and pray to God to hasten the day when this 
war shall come to an end, and the North and South be as 
one, under one government, and the same good old Stars 
and Stripes ; the old colors, and the old government which 
our forefathers fought, and bled, and died to establish and 
sustain. I am fighting for that flag, and that government. 
If that had not been what I came here for, I would not 
have left my home to run the risk of losing ray life." 

"Iron Mountain, Mo., Feb. 27, 1862. 
" I will come home just as soon as I can get there in 
good credit. I don't expect to do as you say those men 
did — come home in half credit. I expect v/hen I come 
home to come in that way that I am not afraid to be seen. 
I expect to keep myself as free from wrong as I can as 
long as I live; and that will be bad enough I know, at 
best. No one knows who has not been in the army, the 
trials of a soldier. You want to know how I voted at the 
election. I voted the Republican ticket, and I thought I 
was voting for the quickest way to stop the Rebellion." 

Cowgill was not a partisan, though brought up a Jack- 
son Democrat. The country, and not party, is the watch- 
word of working and fighting men. 

Cowgill was permitted to return home to die. A few 
moments before he died, while his wife and children, and 
friends and neighbors were standing around his bedside, 



COMPANY G, TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY YOLS. 335 

to catch his last words, he opened his eyes and witli great 
effort and emotion said, " Sixteen long months I have 
fought for the liberty of my country, and yours ; do not let 
my children suffer 1 " After saying these words he lived only 
about five minutes. Thus speaks to us to-day every patriot 
soldier who- gave his life to his country : " 1 have fought for 
the liberty of my country and yours ; do not let my children 
suffer."" 

Here is one of Cowgill's letters to his wife and chil- 
dren : — 

" Memphis, Tenn., March, 1863. 

" Jane, — The most of my studies are about you and the 
children. 1 do hope that God will give you health and 
strength to bear you up through your troubles while I am 
in Uncle Sam's service. I still think it will not be long; 
until this war is over. I long to see the time when the 
men can come home to their families, to stay with them, 
and take care of them. I know you have a hard time with 
the children. Tell them I would like to see them very 
much ; and when I get home, I want to find that they are 
good children, and mind their mother." 

He was born in Campbell County, Ky., and brought up 
in Henry County, Ind. He was a member of the United 
Brethren Church. There never was a man more devoted 
to his family, nor more true to his country. He died Dec. 
2, 1863, and was buried at Peora, Polk County, Iowa. 

THOMAS J. HUDSON 
Was a good soldier. He died Sept. 4, 1864, at New Orleans, 
La., of disease. Went from Layfayette, Polk County, 
Iowa, as a recruit, Feb. 8, 1864, aged eighteen. Born in 
Illinois. 



COMPANY E, TWENTY-NINTH IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

EMERY JONES. 

Mr. W. W. Jones, of Des Moines, sent three of his sons 
to the army : Palestine, Albert, and Emery. The two for- 
mer served through the war (Palestine in the Thirty- 
ninth, and Albert in the Twenty-third Regiment), and were 
honorably discharged at its close. Emery, the subject 
of this memoir, enlisted in the Twenty-ninth Regiment 
(Colonel Benton's) at the age of seventeen ; yet he was a 
hardy soldier, enduring the hardships of camp and march 
equal to any. Strongly built, of cheerful disposition, fond 
of hunting, he loved the occupation of the soldier. 

Hd.-Qks. Co. E, 29th Iowa, Helena, Ark., / 

July 7, 1863. ] 

" MR. W. W. JONES : 

" Dear Sir, — It is with sorrow that I send you the sad 
intelligence that your son Emery was severely wounded in 
the battle fought at this place on the 4th inst. He was 
struck by two balls at the same time, one in the left side of 
the chin, cutting away the flesh, and a small portion of 
the bone ; the other in the right arm about half-way be- 
tween the elbow and shoulder, coming out just below the 
elbow, without injuring the bone. Wounded in the early 
part of the action, he was carried off the field immediately, 
and received the attention of the surgeon at once. 

" In the hospital the next day at noon, I found him quite 
comfortable, and in good spirits. He said, when he heard 



COMPANY E, TWENTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 337 

that we had repulsed the enemy with such heavy loss to 
them, he thought no more of his wounds. He bears his 
sufferings like a good soldier, as he is. He is brave and 
patriotic, loved by all his comrades. 

"J. L. MIT GUELL, First Lieutenant 

Emery writes : — 

" Union Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., ) 
July 10, 1863. ] 

" Dear Father, — As you see, I am in the hospital at 
Memphis ; was wounded on the 4th in the jaw and arm. 
My jaw is somewhat injured, but my arm is doing finely, 
and I think that I shall be able to get around in a week. 
I am doing well and feeling well." 

" Union Hospital, August 22, 1863. 

" Sir, — Your son was admitted to this hospital July 6, 
1863. He was doing well with every prospect of recovery, 
until the 18th, when profuse bleeding from the wound of 
the face occurred. All other means failing to control it, a 
ligature was applied to the artery from which the supply of 
blood was issuing. This stopped the bleeding, but he was 
in a very weak condition, yet quite comfortable during the 
next five or six days. On the 24th he began to sink, and 
died on the 25th from exhaustion. 

" I believe that he received every attention that could 
possibly be bestowed. 

" Very respectfully, 

'* J. B. BRUMLEY, Surgeon U. S. A^ 

Emery Jones was born in Knox County, 111., February 
19, 1845; came with his parents to Polk County, Iowa, at 
a very early day ; received his education in Des Moines ; 
was formerly a pupil under i;ny charge. He was a modest 
but talented young man ; and gave much promise of use- 
fulness in life. At the close of the war his remains were 
brought home, and now lie interred in the cemetary at 
Des Moines. 

22 



338 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

How small a recompense to the brave who gave their 
lives in the cause of their country, the marble that may 
be built into a monument, and the few words of tribute to 
their memory ! 

JOHN WILSON TKENT. 

Two sons of Mr. Gilbert Trent, of Saylor Grove, Polk 
County, Iowa, enlisted in the army — John and Elisha. A 
soldier in hospital at Memphis writes of John W. Trent : — 

" He was wounded in the knee joint by a gunshot in 
the recent battle of Helena, July 4, 1863. The wound was 
of such a nature that amputation was necessary. The limb 
was taken off just above the knee on the evening of the 
same day." 

He died of wounds at six o'clock, a. m., July 25, 1863. 
He was born in Owen County, Indiana, May 30, 1842. He 
had lived in Saylor Township, Polk County, Iowa, eight 
years. An industrious and intelligent young man, he was 
highly esteemed by all who knew him. He writes in one 
of his letters : " I think as much of my country as any one ; 
and I will do all that I can to sustain it. If the war ends 
soon, we will have a good time cheering the Stars and 
Stripes as we go home ; and if it don't end soon, we will 
cheer it anyhow." John was a professor of religion. His 
hospital nurse, Mrs. Rose, writes : " He hoped to meet his 
parents and friends in a better world, where sickness is not 
known. He was not afraid to die. He would trust his soul 
to God's protection, in the consciousness that he had served 
his country faithfully." 



COMPANY K, THIRTY-SECOND IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

ELIAS MODLIN. 

Nothing has greater influence in forming character than 
the memory of the good and brave. Our soldiers in the 
late war strove to equal in courage and devotion to their 
country the men who, under the command of Washington, 
followed the same flag, and bled for it on many battle- 
fields. 

Modlin was a working man, with a wife and four chil- 
dren. When the war broke out he felt it to be his duty to 
go and fight for his country as his fathers had done before 
him. He was a professed Christian, a kind husband and 
father, a good neighbor, and a dutiful soldier ; he died 
on the field of battle. 

" Geakd Ecore, La., Ajnil 16, 1864. 
"MRS. ELIAS MODLIN: 

" Dear Madame, — Before your eyes fall upon these 
lines, the telegraph will have informed you of the bloody 
battle of Pleasant Hill in this State, and of the death of 
your most excellent husband. There was not a man in 
Company K, or in the 32d Iowa, with whom I have been 
more intimate than with Corporal Modlin. There was 
not a man whom I esteemed more highly. I had im- 
plicit confidence in him as a man, as a soldier, and as a 
Christian. He was always at his post. 

" Captain Wheeler informs me that brother Modlin was 



340 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

brave almost to a fault. The orders were to lay close to 
the ground whilst loading, and only rise sufficiently high to 
aim and fire. The corporal thought he could load and fire 
more rapidly to stand upon his feet, which he did. The 
sad result was, a ball from the enemy passed through his 
breast, and he died without speaking. 

"J. CADWALLADER, Chaplain^ 

After the battle of Fort De Russy, Modlin writes, " I 
put trust in God and came out safe." 

He wrote very affectionate letters home, always mention- 
ing by name each of his children, giving them good advice. 
He took great interest in the welfare of the oppressed : — 

" Columbus, Ky., Aug. 30, 1862. 
" I have just been chasing some slaveholders out of the 
camp. We do not allow them to come persuading or en- 
ticing contrabands in any way." 

" Fort Pillow, March 29, 1863. 

" We have meetings four or five nights in the week, and 
good interest is taken by the soldiers. The mourners' 

bench is full every night. J S , a friend of mine, 

has professed a holy trust in Christ. Thank God for his 
grace toward us ! I feel more like taking hold than at any 
time before. Let us live religious lives, and pay no at- 
tention to church difficulties. If a man preaches the truth, 
hear him, no matter of what persuasion he may be. 

" I am sorry the sale of liquor is introduced into Peora. 
The love of money is surely the root of all evil. 

" I frequently hear men complain about not getting their 
pay, and their fare not being good enough ; but I have for 
the first time to find a man hunting up duty to do. 

" Tell Z and N that I compliment them for not 

renting a room of theirs for whiskey to be sold in. I hope 
the good Lord will restore to them fourfold even in this 
world, and infinitely more in the world to come. I do not 



COMPANY K, THIRTY-SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 341 



want the children of Peora city to become drunkards. I do 
not want all manner of vices to be prevalent in our town 
and vicinity, to fill the pockets of a few hell-deserving 
wretches. When I get home, they had better be closing 
out pretty fast. I intend to fight the unlawful sale of liquor 
as long as my life lasts, so help me God ! Think of the 
uproars in the streets at all times of night. If there is a 
whiskey saloon in town, I hope there is firmness enough 
in and around town to put it down. 

" I would like to see those of my friends that are going to 
California ; though it seems t^at they want to ' flee in time 
of trouble.' If a man is able to emigrate to California, it 
seems to me he might do something for the old flag. I 
intend to see my old uncle through if my health remains 
good, and then I may go to some new country." 

Modlin was born in Randolph County, North Carolina ; 
lived in Henry County, Indiana, a number of years ; came 
to Iowa in 1854 ; enlisted in the army August 22, 1862 ; 
aged thirty-eight. Killed April 9, 1864, at Pleasant Hill, 
La., in battle. He was a member of the Wesleyan Meth- 
odist denomination. 

FRANCIS LUELLEN 
Enlisted August 15, 1862, and is accredited to Peora 
city, Polk County, Iowa ; age, thirty ; native of Ohio ; pri- 
vate ; wounded and captured at Pleasant Hill, La., April 
9, 1864 ; died of wounds at Pleasant Hill, La., April 22, 
1864. Doubtless a good and brave man. These are all 
the facts that I have been able to collect concerning his 
history. 

GEORGE H. DUNLAP 
Left a wife at home and a dear little boy ; a truly de- 
voted man — devoted to his family, devoted to his country, 
and to his God. He writes : — 



342 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" The Almighty Deliverer is on the march, and the day 
is not far distant that He has set for the oppressed to go 
free. Then we may look for peace and not till then ; and 

God forbid that it should come until all are free 

I don't want to live in a nation that holds slaves. May 
God's wrath be poured out upon those who say slavery is 
right, and who oppose the government now in the struggle 
for life and liberty." 

Thus we see that our soldiers fought for principle, for 
a Union of freemen, for the rights of man. " Freedom is 
what we are fighting for," sa^s Dunlap, " not freedom to 
enslave others ; but freedom for all for whom Christ died." 
Again, " Give my love to all who love the Union with 
slavery out of it." 

" FOKT Pillow, Oct. 18, 1863. 
" I try to make myself contented and happy. I am happy 
in the Christian's hope. I feel confident that we will meet 
again where war and sorrow and parting cannot come, if 
we live right here ; and may God help us to ever live watch- 
ful to the end. I have tried to spend my time as usefully 
as I could since we came to Columbus. I have read the 
Bible nearly through, Baxter's ' Saints' Rest,' ' The Anx- 
ious Inquirer,' and many other good books, but I find none 
to me like the Word of God." 

" Alexandria, La., AjyHl 10, 1864. 

"I have been bad off since the morning of the 15th of 
March. I was taken on board the hosjDital boat, Wood- 
ford, on the 2 2d. On the 28th, we started to go up to 
Shreveport. About "two miles from here we had to cross 
the rapids, and ran upon a rock, breaking a large hole in 
the bottom of the boat. They ran her ashore and made 
her fast, sending word to all the sick that were able to 
walk to get off as she was sinking. All that were able to 
walk were not long in getting off. I wrapped my blanket 
around me and made good my escajDe ; but the fatigue and 



COMPANY K, XemTY-SECOND IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 343 

exposure gave me a relapse. If you had been there and 
seen the pale faces coming up the bank, you would have 
thought that Red River was giving up her dead." 

From Memphis, Tenn., May 24, 1864, Mrs. Dunlap re- 
ceived the following word : — 

" I write to you this morning announcing to you the 
painful intelligence of your husband's death. He died this 
morning at three o'clock. He said when he was dying, 
' The Master has called me. I have no fear ; for Christ 
is with me.' " 

Dunlap was a native of Ohio. Age, twenty-six ; enlisted 
August 22, 1862. He was a member of the Wesleyan 
Methodist denomination ; he purposed devoting himself 
to the ministry. In him a most valuable man was lost 
to his home and country. 



COMPANY I, THIRTY-THIRD IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

HANCE FERGUSON. 

A WIFE begins a letter to her husband absent in the 
army : — 

"True, kind, and affectionate Companion, — 
Through the kind protection of our Heavenly Father, I am 
blessed with the happy privilege of writing to one so true 
and kind — one whose presence is always in our imagina- 
tions — one whose manly countenance never will be for- 
gotten — one whose presence would bring joy and glad 
tidings to those at home; and I know you would be as 
glad to meet us as we to meet you." 

And the soldier writes to his wife and children : — 

" ScHOFiELD Barracks, St. Louts, ) 
Dec. 10, 1862. | 

" The most encouraging words I can give you are, that I 
try to obey my Maker as nnich as within me lies. We 
have prayer every night before we go to bed. I take my 
part in turn with the rest. Bear in mind that I remember 
you in my prayers." 

" Helena, Ark., March 5, 1863. 
" Notwithstanding the many miles that divide us, my heart 
is always with you. I still trust that God will preserve my 
life, and return me safely to my family. If I never should 
be permitted to return, I have nothing to regret." 



COMPANY I, THIRTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 345 

"Helena, June i, 1863. 
" Tell Blanche that I have dreamed of being with her 
every night for a week, and that we had the grandest times. 
I was always at home, and you getting something for us to 
eat, and Blanche and I were having our fun. Blanche 
brought Danis to me, and such enjoyment I never had be- 
fore, I know. It appears to me as if it were so. I hope it 
will be so some time in the future. God speed the time, 
and may He bless you with the necessaries of life, is my 

prayer." 

" Helena, June 10. 

" I would like to see my little family once more ; but God 

forbid that I should ever have to return to you with a stain 

upon my name." 

« July 10. 

" My Dear, — I know you follow the columns of the 
news with an anxious heart — not only for your own and 
my welfare — but on account of the patriot blood that 
flows through your veins. If it should please God that 
we never have the pleasure of meeting on this earth, I feel 
that you would have a land of liberty to live in. I rejoice 
that I have a wife and two children to leave in it — not 
that I take pleasure in human sorrow ; for I know you have 
not much to comfort you if you are alone. But there 
would be one comfort to you, that you did your part to 
save your land and country ; for this you suffer the priva- 
tions of widowhood's lonesome hours." 

''Aug. 16. 

" I have my shoulder to the wheel, and I expect to keep 
it there till this war is closed." 

" Ball's Bluff, Ark., Aug. 25. 

" There is not much to be made anywhere. If we all 
come out alive at the end of the war, I shall be satisfied." 

" Little Rock, Sept. 21. 
" Southern traitors were determined to destroy our happy 
country, as Satan was to destroy the Lord's people. Old 



346 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Abe made a call upon the people to save it, and then an- 
other, and another. What was the result ? One million 
and a half responded. Look with what zeal men have 
pressed forward marching right into death, to save a habi- 
tation for the rising generation. And then think that the 
Lord came to earth to suffer, bleed, and die for our sakes — 
and think that He has offered a habitation forever to all that 
come unto Him. How much more earnestly should we 
heed His call. We show by fighting for our country how 
we love our children, and will strive for their welfare. We 
should also show them a pattern of virtue. Let this be 
our study. 

" I can say, that I believe that we have done the work of 
saving our country. I think it is almost done. O, how 
shall I contain myself if I live to see the time come to 
start home, with our country saved, and our little ones 
living monuments of the Lord's mercy. What a meet- 
ing ! What joy on earth ! If such joy on earth, then we 
should think what are the enjoyments of heaven." 

*' Oct. 13. 

" This is the morning of the election. I have voted one 
straight Union ticket. There is no half-way ground for 
any man at this stage of the game. He is for or against 
our country and the old flag. I can say that every man 
in Company I is true to the cause." 

" Nov. 11. 

" Now, my dear, let me tell you, I am a man for my 
country, and a man that loves my wife and children. Now 
how should I act to prove this ? Should I have stayed 
at home with them ? I answer. No. Where should one 
be found ? On the tented field, or on the road in the line 
of march, or standing at some corner, in some city or town, 
with his rifle in his hand, ready to defend his family and 
country. No American citizen can show his love any 
better than that. Neither can a patriotic woman show her 



COMPANY I, THIRTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 347 

love for her country in any manner better than to have her 
husband in the army. Many unpleasant things I see and 
feel ; but I see some that are pleasant ; I have sweet 
dreams about you and the little ones. I never have had a 
frightful vision since I have been in the service. I am not 

o 

homesick, although I always think of you." 

" Nov. 22. 

" What do I care for money, if I can see my friends and 
save my country ? "Would I endure these absent hours 
for money ? Never for anything except my country." 

" June 14, 1864. 
" The wickedness in the army is not half as bad as one 
would think. I don't believe that this department is half 
as wicked as it was last winter. It is only now and then 
that you hear a man swear, especially in our company. It 
appears that the longer men are in the service the more 
moral they become. At any rate it is the case in our regi- 
ment ; and it appears to be the case with all." 

This good man, and excellent soldier, was born in Law- 
rence County, Indiana. He was a son-in-law of Mr. Linds- 
ley Carr, of Beaver Township, Polk County, Iowa, and a 
member of the Christian denomination ; was twenty-eight 
years old at the time he enlisted, August 9, 1862 ; was 
with his regiment in the battle of Helena, July 4, 1863, and 
at the capture of Little Rock, Sept. 10, 1863. 

After the battle at Saline River, April 30, 1864, he was 
detailed to nurse the sick and wounded, and with them 
fell into the hands of the Rebels ; was placed in the Fed- 
eral hospital at Camden, Ark., where he remained as 
nurse until Oct. 6, 1864, when he died of disease. He was 
expecting soon to be exchanged. His wife and children 
did not hear of his death until April of the following year. 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-FOURTH IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

JAMES M. ELLIOTT, 

A RECRUIT in Company B, 34th Iowa, enlisted Jan. 26, 
1863. He took the measles at Davenport, from the effects 
of which he never fully recovered. He remained in hos- 
pital at Davenport three months, and then joined his regi- 
ment. He took part in the actions before Fort Gaines 
and Fort Morgan, near Mobile. 

" Fort Gaines Hospital, Aug. 29, 1864. 
" Dear Mother, — I left the regiment on the 25th, and 
came to hospital, which is about four miles across from 
Fort Morgan. It is a very nice cool place here, and I 
think I will get better now." 

He enlisted at the age of sixteen. He was rejected by 
the mustering officer on account of not being of proper 
age ; but being anxious to go, Colonel Clark said to him, 
" Never mind, I will get you in anyhow." He was a boy 
of good moral character ; never made use of profane lan- 
guage ; carried his Testament with him through his whole 
term in the army. His life had been an innocent one on 
the farm. He greatly loved his brothers, and sisters, and 
parents. " Your son," says Captain Donagan to Mrs. El- 
liott, " is a very good boy, very moral, and will make a 
good soldier." He came home in October, 1864, on sick 
leave. He was able to walk about the fields for a time, but 
gradually sinking, he died Nov. 17, 1864, aged seventeen 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 349 

years and seventeen days, expressing a reliance on the 
Saviour. " Do you believe in Jesus ? " said a lady to him 
just before he died. " I do," he replied. " Do you believe 
that He will save you ? " " Yes," he said. He was buried 
in the cemetery at Peora City, Polk County, Iowa, near 
which village he had lived with his parents since he was 
a little boy. A beautiful tombstone marks the place 
where he lies. 



COMPANY D, THIRTY-FOURTH IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

JOHN S. DAVIS 

Enlisted as a private in Company D, 34th Iowa, Aug. 13, 
1862. He was soon after promoted to hospital steward, 
and served his country faithfully until after the capture of 
Arkansas Post, January 11, 1863, when, on the way North 
with prisoners, he was prostrated with disease. He died at 
Chicago, Illinois, Feb. 11, 1863, aged twenty-one. One of 
the truest and noblest of the youth of our land. 

The following, written by Mr. J. M. Dixon, is copied 
from the " State Register," of Feb. 15, 1863 : — 

" Some incidents connected with the life of John S. 
Davis, whose funeral took place yesterday, will be inter- 
esting to our readers. At the time of his enlistment his 
health was feeble ; and in consequence of this, his mother 
urged him to remain at home. His reply was : * Mother, 
it is the duty of every young man to go, and I must 
go. Other sons will be called to battle, and your sons 
must be there too. Ephraim has gone, and I am much 
more able to stand the toil than he. If I die, I will 
die in a noble cause. Mother, I must go 1 ' After joining 
the regiment, he was intent on qualifying himself for the 
performance of his duty ; and the universal testimony of 
his comrades is, that he never failed to perform his duty 
kindly, conscientiously, and efficiently, when not prevented 
by actual physical inability. When taken to the hospital, 



COMPANY D, THIRTY-FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 351 

he was unable to stand, having worked night and day to 
get the sick soldiers into the hospital, and have them cared 
for. As soon as it was known in the different wards 
among the sick of his regiment that their beloved steward 
was there, they started for his room to see him. Those 
who were too weak to walk, actually crawled to his door to 
see him, and to inquire how he was. The matrons, nurses, 
and chaplain of the hospital declared that they had never 
before seen so much love and regard manifested by soldiers 
to an officer. The soldiers would exclaim with tears in 
their eyes, ' He was always so good and so kind. No poor 
sick soldier ever wanted a bed to lie on as long as he had 
a comfort or a blanket ; and none of them suffered for want 
of nourishment so long as he had a crumb of bread in his 
haversack.' 

" After the battle of Arkansas Post, when coming up the 
river, he was very sick, and a state-room was procured for 
him. Observing a weak and sick soldier lying on the 
floor, he threw himself out of bed, and directed the soldier 
to be placed carefully on the bed from which he had risen. 
John took the soldier's place on the floor, saying, ' He is 
sicker than I am, and shall have my place.' 

" Near his last hour, a very sick man was brought into 
the ward where he was lying. John was thought to be un- 
conscious at the time ; but seeing the sick man, the faithful 
steward endeavored to throw himself from the cot, whis- 
pering as he did so, ' Let him have my bed ! Put me on the 
floor ! ' When he was thought to be dying, two soldiers 
stood by the side of his bed, and spoke of the Union, and 
the Stars and Stripes. The dying officer opened his eyes, 
and gazed at them, saying, ' I, too, have fought for the 
Union, and the glorious old flag ! ' 

" In a letter which he had commenced, but which death 
did not permit him to finish, he spoke of the immense toil 
and responsibility which devolved upon him, but immedi- 
ately added, ' I do it all cheerfully to help sustain the best 
government on earth.' 



352 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" These simple incidents in the life of a true soldier 
whose body now reposes in the grave, are deeply affecting. 
They show a moral heroism and a forgetfulness of self in 
caring for the interests of others, which are seldom dis- 
played. The soldiers of the 34th Iowa Regiment will 
carry to their graves a vivid remembrance of the thousand 
kindnesses conferred upon them by their young steward." 

The following is a copy of the unfinished letter spoken 
of above : — 

" Friend Charles, — I have a position in which there 
is a great deal of responsibility resting upon me. I am re- 
sponsible for everything in the hospital, also in the dispen- 
satory. If there is anything lost in any of the medical 
departments, I have to account for it. But this is not half. 
I have every morning not less than three or four hundred 
men to fill prescriptions for. But this is nothing. I am 
doing it to maintain the best government that ever existed. 
You may think this a great way to maintain a government, 
but I can tell you if there was no medicine to distribute 
in the different regiments of the army, we would have no 
army." 

The following letter, giving an account of the capture of 
Arkansas Post, is the last received from John by his par- 
ents : — 

" On Board Steamer Nebraska, | 
Jan. 15, 1863. | 

" Dear Father, — .... "We landed about four 
miles below the main fort, and one mile from the first rifle- 
pits. Our troops disembarked, marching three or four 
miles through the mud, very near knee-deep. On the next 
day, about half past one, p. m., the engagement became 
general. The orun-boats had been firing for some time. 
We had batteries planted on every side, which played upon 
the enemy with fine effect. About four o'clock, the fort 



COMPANY D, THIRTY-FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 353 

was surrendered. "VYe captured about five thousand pris- 
oners, and arms of every description, and a great many 
mules, wagons, etc. The loss in our regiment was very 
slight, having but one killed and thirteen wounded. 

" I officiated to the best advantage I could, and sent 
out ambulances, and directed them as to where their places 
were ; also sent three litter-carriers with each ambulance. 
I suppose you have heard of our reconnaissance to Vicks- 

burg Our regiment was detailed as guards to 

take the rebel prisoners to St. Louis." 

Upon the family monument erected in Woodland Ceme- 
tery, Des Moines, by Dr. Davis, is inscribed : — 

*' JOHN S. DAVIS, 

Son of 

W. P. AND S. P. DAVIS, 

Hospital Steward, 

34th Regiment Iowa Volunteers, 

Died at Chicago, 

February 8, 1862, 

Aged 21 years, and 15 days. 

' I, too, have done all that I could to defend this flag.' '• 

^ Since the above was written, the father of this noble 
young martyr, Dr. William P. Davis (formerly Surgeon of 
the 10th Iowa Infantry, commissioned August 20, 1861 ; 
served until April 14, 1862, when, on account of failing 
health, he resigned), has passed to his final rest. Dr. Davis 
was one of the early residents of Des Moines, and one of 
her ablest physicians. The hardships of the campaign in 
Missouri and Arkansas shattered his hitherto robust con- 
stitution, and a short time after his return from the army, 
he was stricken with paralysis, lingered several months, 
and left us for his final home in the better world. Dr. 
Davis was a good man, and a ripe scholar. He was at the 
beginning of the war a senator in the Iowa Legislature; a 
stanch advocate and defender of the Union and the flag. 
23 



354 



AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 



No better man or truer patriot has lived to bless our land 
than was Dr. William P. Davis. Born near Trenton, N. 
J., March 12, 1812; went with parents to Dayton, Ohio, 
in 1813 ; went to Lebanon, Boone County, Ind., when he 
was twenty-one years old, where he lived until he came to 
Des Moines, Iowa, in the year 1856. 



THIRTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY. 

Two companies belonging to this regiment were enrolled 
in Polk County, Companies B and I, in the month of Au- 
gust, 1862, and mustered into the United States' service 
Nov. 24, 1862. The regiment rendezvoused in Des Moines ; 
proceeded to Davenport, and then into Tennessee ; took 
a prominent part in the battle of Parker's Cross-Roads ; 
was stationed for a long time on garrison duty at Corinth ; 
guarded for some time the Nashville and Decatur Railroad ; 
took a very active part in tlie campaign against Atlanta ; 
fought in the battle of Allatoona (the Thirty-ninth bore the 
brunt of the battle on that day) ; joined Sherman in his 
march to the sea ; and participated in the grand review at 
Washington, D. C, where it was mustered out June 5, 1865. 
The officers commissioned in this regiment whose residence 
was Polk County, were — Colonel Joseph M. Griffiths, Ad- 
jutant George C. Tichenor, Captains John H. Dykeman, 
Andrew T, Blodgett, Augustus Yerger, and Robert C. Hun- 
ter, Lieutenants Franklin R. Thurbur, William A. Patter- 
son, and Erastus Scott. The dead of the regiment from 
Polk Countv, are — 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

WILLIAM H. CHAMBERLAIN 

Was accredited to Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa ; a na- 
tive of New York ; thirty-six years old ; enlisted August 
11, 1862 ; was wounded Dec. 31, 1862, at Parker's Cross- 
Roads, severely in the head ; and died January 9, 1863, at 
Jackson, Tenn., of wounds. " He was a good soldier," say 
his comrades. 

NICHOLAS W. SIMMONS, 
Aged thirty ; a native of New York ; enlisted August 22, 
1862 ; died Feb. 8, 1863, at Corinth, Miss., of disease. 
Samuel Thornton says, in a letter written from hospital at 
Corinth, Feb. 8, " This morning Simmons died. His wid- 
owed mother lives in Des Moines. He was a very stout, 
healthy man. The Lord. comfort his poor old mother, and 
give abundant grace in her afflictions." 

HUDSON HARRISON 

Enlisted first in the Tenth Regiment, and was rejected 
on account of disability. He afterwards enlisted in the 
Thirty-ninth, and was received into Company B, but before 
the company left Des Moines, Harrison was prostrated with 
sickness. He was well little of the time after he enlisted. 
He was offered a discharge at Cairo, but did not accept it. 
Hudson Harrison was a young man of good morals ; he 
read his Bible attentively. His mother says, " While in 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 357 

the army Hudson read his Testament through three 
times." His chaplain says, in a letter : "'A few days before 
his death I conversed with him. He gave good evidence 
of a change of heart ; and I think that I can confidently 
affirm that he died in the Christain faith." Born in Mont- 
gomery County, Indiana, Dec. 16, 1843 ; he died Feb. 12, 
1863, at Corinth, Miss., of inflammatory rheumatism. 

His father, Alanson Harrison, a member of the same 
company, was permanently disabled while in the service, 
from a fall while endeavoring to get upon the cars. 

THOMAS O. TAYLOR. 

The father, Thomas Taylor, of Avon, is an old man 
and a cripple. The son Thomas was the " staff of his de- 
clining years." He was unmarried, and lived with his 
parents, and labored for their support. Two brothers, 
Henry and Thomas, entered the service at the same time. 
" Father," said Thomas, " the country needs our service ; 
let us go." " I taught my boys," said Mr. Taylor to me, " to 
love their country, and to be good citizens." Thomas was 
a native of Ohio, aged twenty-three. He had lived in Polk 
County five years when he volunteered. Died March 14, 
1863, at Jackson, Tenn., of disease. 

SAMUEL E. THORNTON. 

Thornton was born in the State of New York, in 1826, 
and had resided in Polk County, Iowa, about five years? 
when he enlisted August 15, 1862. He went with his reg- 
iment from Camp Burnside, in Des Moines, to Davenport, 
thence to Cairo, and down the river to the seat of war ; was 
in the battle of Parker's Cross-Roads. When the regiment 
reached Corinth, he was detailed to nurse in the hospital, 
where he remained doing duty until, by over exertions in 
behalf of the sick, he brought on himself the sickness 
which terminated his life. A friend writes, June 29, 1863 : 



358 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

" Thornton is very low and will not recover I 

have just called to see him; he is dying. Thus ends the 
life of a good man. He has lived since he has been in the 
army a devoted Christian, and dies the death of the same." 
His letters show his character as a Christian, a patriot, 
and a man, better than any words of mine. I will, how- 
ever, premise that Thornton was a well educated man ; a 
patriot of the most sterling qualities ; and a Christian, 
devoted entirely to the welfare of others. 

" January 31, 1863. 
" I have to jump up, candle in hand, and wait upon the 
sick every little while. Last night I was permitted to sleep 
a few hours ; but to-night I am alone again, watching with 
fifteen sick and convalescent soldiers. This makes five con- 
secutive nights I have been wthout much sleep, yet I am 
able to do my duty. I overheard one of my sick ones tell 
another who was going to write a letter for him, ' Write and 
tell my folks we have just the best nurse in the world.' 
But it is not man's approbation keeps me up. My heav- 
enly Father gives me strength day by day." 

At another time he says : — 

" It is now just twenty minutes past one o'clock, a. m. 
I am up with the sick. This makes four days and four 
nights in succession that I have worked with and taken 
care of the sick in Ward No. 3, with only a few short 
naps of sleep in the night, and none in the day-time." 

But I will arrange the extracts from his letters in the 
order of the time in which the letters were written to his 
wife and children, and the thoughtful reader will be as much 
benefited and as much interested in reading them as if they 
were placed in the order of the various topics on which he 
writes — love of home, love of God, and love of country : — 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 359 

" September 12, 1862. 
" 'Tis too true we know not how to value our o-reatest and 
richest blessings till deprived of them. It is especially so 
with home joys. Sad indeed must that man be who has no 
home, no loved ones to cheer his heart in the sad walks of 
life ! The man who has but a lone cabin which he can call 
his own, a loved and loving wife and dear little ones, whose 
society he daily enjoys, is a happy man. Nor does he need 
the hollow applause of a hollow world to increase his hap- 
piness. In this world of strife and blood ' there is no place 
like home.' Could honors — could money induce me to 
leave my home ? O no, never — but my country's rights 
and freedom." 

Here is a beautiful picture : — 

" November 17, 1862. 

" It rejoices my heart to know that you all thus meet 
around our own family altar, morning and evening, to ask 
God to bless you and your absent father, and to spare his 
life that he may again come and live with you. I pray 
daily, yea, I pray without ceasing, that we may all in the 
good Lord's own time meet to enjoy each other's society 
around our own family altar and peaceful fireside. But 
yet we know not what a day may bring forth. But the 
Lord doeth all things well. We live in a world of disap- 
pointments, trials, crosses, and afflictions, all of which are 
blessings to thos^ that appreciate them as coming from Him 
who is too wise to err, too good to do wrong. 

" In the school of disappointments we learn that all 
things earthly take wings and fly away. 

" ' There's nothing true but Heaven.' 

" Were we never called to pass through the furnace of 
Afflictions, we would become wedded to the perishing earth. 
But Christ, who is our school-master to bring us to God, 
would have us learn of Him. ' He had not where to lay 



360 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

his head ; ' nor have we any continumg or abiding city here. 
As fast as the swift wheels of Time can move us along, we 
are travellinor to the tomb. 

" ' I'm but a traveller here, 

Heaven is my home, 
Earth is a desert drear, 

Heaven is my home. 
Danger and sorrow stand 
Round me on every hand, 
Heaven is my fatherland, 

Heaven is my home.' " 

" December 15, 1862. " 

" I enlisted because I love my country ; because I love 
my own dear wife and little ones ; and therefore am willing 
to lay down my life to defend the government I love, and 
under which I expect the loved ones at home to enjoy the 
boon of freedom un contaminated by the curse of slavery, 
the sole cause of this diabolical Rebellion.'" 

" December 19, 1862. 
" It is because I love not only my country, but my fam- 
ily, that I have left the comforts of home and the society of 
loved ones, to fight and, if needs be, die upon the battle- 
field." 

" December — , . 



" Again I say, trust in God ; love, serve, and obey Him, 
and all will be well for time and eternity. Train up our 
' loved ones ' in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, 
and pray for your absent one, that his faith fail not ; and 
then if we never more meet in this world of sin and sorrow 
we will all meet an unbroken family in the kingdom of 
heaven." 

" January 31, 1863. 

" Had I the tongue of an angel, and the pen of a ready 

writer, I could neither tell nor describe the love I have for 

. my beloved family. Were it not for the love of God shed 

abroad in my heart — were it not for the unshaken confi- 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 361 

dence I have in my blessed Redeemer — were it not for the 
comforting, consoling, happifying influences of religion, I 
would be miserable indeed." 

" March 25, 1863. 

" I feel quite happy this morning. I can truly say ' God 
is with me, and His love is in my poor heart.' Were it not 
for the soul-reviving influences of the blessed Spirit, in my 
hours of sadness, made so by my bodily weakness and suf- 
fering, I should be in despair. The Lord is my shepherd. 
He maketh my bed in sickness ; yea, though I walk through 
the dark valley of death, even there I will fear no evil ; for 
the Lord hath said, ' Lo ! I am with you alway.' " 

" COKINTH, April 2S, 1863. 

" Happiness does not depend upon wealth, nor worldly 
honors, nor external circumstances of life. This I know, 
not only from my own personal experience, but I see the 
fact demonstrated, happily demonstrated right here every 
day. The ' contrabands,' the poor, despised, unfortunate, 
down-trodden negroes, are the most happy people I've seen. 
Last Monday night I attended one of their happy meetings. 
One who had been in slavery until father Abraham's proc- 
lamation set him free, forever free, preached one of the 
best sermons I have heard for many a year, from this text : 
* The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous.' (Psalms 
xxxiv. 15.) A colored woman made one of the most appro- 
priate prayers I ever heard. God by his spirit assisted 
her." 

He says of his children : — 

" Corinth, April 23. 
" May the blessings of Heaven rest upon thdm now in 
the days of their infancy, childhood, and youth, and attend 
them through life, that they may be an honor to their 
parents, themselves, and a blessing to the world. Above 
all, may they live and die in the service of God — live the 



362 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

life of the righteous, that their last days may be like his ; and 
finally may we all meet in heaven." 

" Corinth, Mmj 1, 1863. 
" I was invited to preach last night, and though the flesh 
was weak, yet the spirit was willing, and we had a good 
meeting. Text, ' AVhat is the Almighty, that we should 
serve Him ? and what profit should we have if we pray unto 
Him ? ' (Job xxi. 15.)" 

" Corinth, 3fay 9. 
" I would not exchange our own sweet home in Iowa, for 
all I've yet seen in the South, and be obliged to live here. 

" The papers to-night bring very sad news in regard to the 
fight at Fredericksburg, Va. It is said Hooker Avas there 
repulsed with loss of 20,000 men. I hope and pray it may 
not be so ; for if it is true, it will greatly encourage the 
Rebels, and dishearten our soldiers, and prolong the war, 
and hatch out scores and hundreds of quirky Copperheads 
in the North." 

Mr. Thornton, for many years before he entered the ser- 
vice, had been employed in teaching. June 8, 1863, just 
twenty-one days before he died, he writes to his wife that he 
thought strongly of taking charge of a school of contra- 
bands. He says : " I feel willing to do so ; but fear that 
my health is too feeble to engage in so arduous a work. 
Some days I am obliged lie down and rest before T can 
go through with all my duties. I fear I shall not survive 
the time for which I enlisted." 

The following extracts illustrate his character still far- 
ther : — 

" The chief encouraoement the Rebels receive now is 
from the secesh Democrats of the North. I have con- 
cluded, however, not to call them Democrats any longer ; 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 363 

for there is not a vestige of the old Union Democracy 
among the whole rotten set. The other day we passed a 
resolution in the hospital to call them Democrats no longer 
— but Chinch Bug Mahoneyites. One of the soldiers re- 
ceived a letter from his daughter living near Oceola, Clark 
County, in which it is said a man, a Democrat (?), a Chinch 
Bucr, met some children ooing from school and asked them 
if they had heard from their fathers. The children said that 
they had not, and that they didn't expect to hear that they 
were alive, for they had been in a hard battle. ' O well,' 
said the Chinch Bug, ' it won't make any difference ; the 
niggers your fathers went to fight for can come up here and 
marry your mothers.' The soldier who received this letter 
is now in my ward, and he says that if he ever lives to get 
home, he will shoot the villain who uttered such language." 

Here are some characteristic expressions, also from the 
pen of the same patriotic soldier : — 

" I have a holy indignation against all Northern dough- 
faced traitors, who are doing all they can to perpetuate the 
inhuman institution of slavery, caused by this ' rule or 
ruin,' hell-deserving Rebellion. When I say I have a 
holy indignation against all Northern traitors, and Clay 
Dean tories, I but speak the sentiments of every true 
soldier. Indeed it is the common expression among the 
less refined, but not less loyal soldiers, ' I'd rather shoot a 

d d Copperhead in the North than a Rebel in the 

South ; ' and they mean just what they say, and say just 
what they mean. 

" My heart's desire and prayer to God is, that these de- 
luded enemies of our government who reside in the Free 
States may repent and become loyal citizens — become 
truth-telling, law-abiding. God-fearing members of society ; 
then ' one [God-loving, loyal soldier] shall chase a thou- 
sand [pro-slavery, anti-Union, Heaven-insulting, God-pro- 
voking Rebels], and two put ten thousand to flight.' " 



364 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

He says in one of his letters, speaking of little chil- 
dren : — 

" What a dreary place earth would be if no little chil- 
dren lingered here to comfort and cheer our lonely hearts ; 
if no buds of immortality were left to blossom and to 
bloom beside our pathway to the tomb. ' For of such is 
the kingdom of heaven.' Is that house a home where no 
children dwell? 

" ' There's not a spot on earth more drear, 
Than where no children's voices cheer.' " 

Mr. Thornton was personally known to the author of 
this book : he knew him intimately and loved him as a 
good man. He was a man of usefulness, and his loss was 
keenly felt, both at home and in the army. The officers 
of his company all testify to his worth, and his comrades 
speak of him with the greatest respect. He left a wife and 
four children. 

FRANCIS MARION LOW 

Died July 1st, 1863, at Corinth, Miss., of remittent fever. 
His comrades say he was a " splendid soldier." He en- 
listed at Bloomington, Polk County, August 15, 1862. 
The Rev. S. R. Groom was by his bedside when he died, 
and says that he died happy. He came with his parents 
to Polk County in 1849 ; born in Clark County, Indiana. 
Of his family five brothers were in the army as volunteers : 
Alfred, William, Josephus, Madison, and Francis ; Francis 
and Alfred died — Alfred in a Nebraska regiment, in 
hospital at Fort Kearney. 

DANIEL T. KEENEY 

Was killed May 16th, 1864, at Calhoun, Ga., having served 
from Aug. 12th, 1862. A fellow-soldier and friend, who had 
known Keeney from boyhood, furnishes the following : — 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 365 

" He was born in Montgomery County, Indiana ; and he 
came to Iowa in 1847. He was possessed of great bodily 
strength, capable of enduring almost any hardships; of 
cheerful disposition — always happy and contented ; made 
friends of all who fell into his company ; six feet high ; 
of fair complexion ; his average weight one hundred and 
eighty lbs. ; his age when he enlisted, twenty-two ; en- 
listed at Des Moines, Aug. 12, 1862 ; served his country 
faithfully through several hard campaigns ; was with the 
regiment at E-ed Mound, Tenn. ; fought bravely ; was with it 
on garrison duty at Corinth, and in the march to Tuscum- 
bia, Ala., and Lynnville, Tenn., and thence to Athens, Ala. 
On the 13th of April, started on the Atlanta campaign ; was 
with the regiment when it passed through Dalton and Tun- 
nel Hill ; but at Sugar Valley, on the 16th of May, 1864, 
while we were engaged in a warm encounter with the 
enemy, he was killed instantly by a musket-ball penetrat- 
ing his forehead. He was buried in the usual manner of 
burying soldiers on the battle-field — wrapped in his 
blanket." 

SERGEANT ROBERT FRANCIS WARD, 

Orderly of Company B, 39th Iowa, was one of the best 
young men that ever went into the service — and the best 
went. I knew him well, for he was a pupil in my school 
before the war. He was a young man of even temper 
and studious habits. In battle he was cool and ever 
master of himself. His morals were pure ; his actions 
were guided by a sense of honor, dignity, right, magna- 
nimity. The following gives a view of his politics. In a 
letter to his father, he says : — 

" I believe that both parties. Democrat and Republican, 
go too far. If they had to play soldier awhile they would 
cease their everlasting howling, and prejudice would be- 
come union, and the war would cease much sooner. Those 



366 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. / 

who wear the butternut badge do not regard their friends 
and relatives in the army as much as Rebels." 

The following shows the practical workings of his mind : 
" You advise me, if I can get a furlough, to come home. 
I think I will not do so ; the time is too short, and the ex- 
pense too much. I can supply myself with such things as 
will insure good health and a great many advantages, 
which I would lose." 

He loved his home and friends as well as any one, and 
he was not without sentiment : " While I write," he says, 
*' I hear the brass band playing, filling the air with notes 
that make the heart glad. Now the cars whistle. It is the 
train from the North ; perhaps it has a letter for me." But 
he comprehended his position fully. He was a soldier — 
had enlisted to serve his country ; not for the pleasure of 
soldiering, but because it was necessary for the general 
good. He was a patriot, and not a partisan ; an Ameri- 
can, not a Republican, nor Democrat, nor Abolitionist ; 
he fought for the flag and for the American name. Party 
was a small matter to him, and the contentions of politi- 
cians as the battles of pigmies and cranes. He says of 
disloyal men in the North : " They have been very injurious 
to the Union army. They have been the cause of many 
soldiers losing their lives, both Federal and Confederate ; 
for it creates great confidence in the South, and takes sol- 
diers from the field in the North. The traitors in the 
North are the most death-deserving men now existing in 
the United States." 

I will give entire the last letter he ever wrote home : — 

" Camp Co. B, 39th Iowa, Ringgold, Ga., | 

May 12, 1864. J 

" My dear Sister, — After we broke camp at Chick- 
amoga we marched to Rattlesnake Gap — a pass in the 
mountains, about fourteen miles south of Dalton, Ga. We 



COMPANY B, THIKTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 367 

passed through the Gap on the 8th day of May, and found 
no obstructions. Our regiment was the first of the ' Yan- 
kees ' that, ever passed through. We camped, the night of 
the 8th, at the further end of the Gap. There the Rebels 
concentrated durins: the nicrht in considerable force. Our 
pickets and the Rebels were within three hundred yards 
of each other. In the morning, at daylight, skirmishing 
commenced ; it lasted during the entire day. We drove 
the Rebels back about three miles, to the railroad ; we 
could have cut the road, but I think that was not the inten- 
tion. There was a town where we struck the road. The 
same day our forces tried to break the rebel lines at Buz- 
zards' Roost Gap, which is about five miles above Snake 
Gap, and were repulsed with heavy loss. Our generals 
finding it impossible to take the ridge from this side, have 
moved through the Gap. Generals McPherson, Sherman, 
Hooker, Sigel, and Schofield have gone through with at 
least one hundred thousand men, to attack Dalton from the 
south. The rebel fortifications are very strong and almost 
impregnable. The ridge is about fifteen miles long, with 
ledges of rock jutting over — and where there are not 
overhanging rocks, obstructions have been placed in the 
way to hinder the advance of our troops. The rocks are 
stuck full of sharp-shooters, who pick our men off when- 
ever they come in reach. I have learned that our men cut 
the railroad yesterday, south of Dalton. The Rebs are 
now almost surrounded, yet they may cut their way out. 
If we succeed here (and I think we will), we will demoral- 
ize Johnston's entire command, and capture all his muni- 
tions of war in Dalton, which are said to be many. Our 
regiment was detailed to guard a provision train from the 
Gap to this place, and will go back to-day or to-morrow. 
I do not know when the battle will open, but when it does 
it will be hot and bloody. Our forces left this side during 
Ihe night. To keep the Rebels blinded, our batteries are 
playing on their forts. There was hard fighting yesterday 



368 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

on the left. One of the 9th Illinois boys had a hand to 
hand fight with a Rebel ; both were wounded. After they 
had discharged their pieces without effect, the Rebel used 
his sword and the Illinoian his carbine. They kept strik- 
ing, until the Illinoian got a fair lick at the Reb's head and 
tumbled him off his horse, and brought him from the field 
in triumph. 

" Yesterday we marched twenty-two miles. There was 
a hurricane in the night and it rained torrents. We were 
camped in a bottom, with some rails stuck up and covered 
with rubber blankets. The storm commenced about nine 
o'clock and blew down every shelter. Many lost blankets, 
hats, etc. The lightning kept the camp nearly as light as 
day. 

" I have just heard that the Rebels have evacuated Dal- 
ton. As the mail is about to leave I will close. I will do 
my duty and share my fate. 

"FRANCIS." 

" Hd.-Qrs. General Field Hospital, Resaca, ) 

May 25, 1864. | 

" To THE Friends of Sergeant F. R. Ward : — The 
sergeant was brought to the "hospital on the 19th, very 
severely wounded. He lingered to the 20th, and then 
died. He was not conscious in his last moments. He was 
wounded in the battle at this place. We have had over 
two thousand wounded here ; but we have sent most of 
them to Chattanooga and Nashville. Quite a number of 
them are severely wounded ; but thanks to the unwearied 
efforts of the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, we have 
been supplied with everything for their comfort without 
which they would have suffered. 

" WM. C. H. JOHNSON, H. S., U. S. A. 

He was wounded on Sugar Creek near the Oostenaula 
River. The Union forces had thrown up works on the 
Oostenaula and the Rebels on Susar Creek. On the morn- 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 369 

ing of May 16, the Union forces advanced on the rebel 
works, and fought from morning till night. Ward was 
wounded on the skirmish line early in the morning. He 
lay on the field all day on the disputed ground — bullets 
passing over him from either side. In the evening he was 
carried from the field, and concealed from the enemy in 
some bushes, by two of his comrades, but could not be 
taken farther on account of the river. He remained 
here until the next morning, with his wounds undressed. 
He was shot throuorh the lesf about four inches above the 
knee. His leg was amputated ; but he died from the ef- 
fects of the operation. Daniel Keeney and Henry Elliott 
were killed in this same engagement. 

Robert Francis Ward was born in Jackson County, 
Iowa, eighteen miles southwest of Dubuque, April 18, 
1841. His home had been, since he was a child, on Keo- 
kuk Prairie, about five miles southeast of Des Moines, at 
his father's house. 

HENRY HARRISON ELLIOTT, 
Being out on the skirmish line, was wounded first under 
the shoulder, then on the side of the face ; at last a ball 
penetrated his forehead just over his left eye, and passed 
entirely through his head. This occurred near Calhoun, Ga., 
May 16, 1864. After our men had fallen back, leaving the 
wounded and dead lying on the field, Elliott arose. Taking 
his gun, and his rubber blanket, he started to find the regi- 
ment. After he had travelled about a half a mile, he came 
to a picket camp fire and laid down by it, where his father, 
Thomas Elliott, a member of the 1st Iowa Battery, found 
him after a long search. Harry was covered with blood 
from head to foot, nor did his father know him, until re- 
membering that he had lost one of his front teeth, he felt 
in his mouth. The boy seemed to be asleep. The father 
shook him and spoke to him. The son raised up and said, 

" Why, father, have you come at last ? " These were the 
24 



370 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

last words he ever uttered ; for he was never again con- 
scious, though he lived yet seventeen days. He died in 
hospital at Chattanooga, and was buried there, in grave 
No. 564. 

Harry was a large strong man, weighing while in health 
190 pounds. He had lived in Polk County, Iowa, since he 
was two years old. Born in Fountain County, Ind., Oct. 
6, 1845, and died June 3, 1864. He was an intelligent 
young man ; loved reading ; had good habits ; was brave ; 
there were few better men. He was once a prisoner in the 
hands of the rebels, being captured at Shady Grove, Tenn., 
Dec. 30, 1862. 

ANDREW CEFLEY, 
Aged twenty-eight, a German by birth, enlisted at Avoiiy 
Polk County, near which 'place he had friends living ; died 
at Chattanooga, Tenn., June 27, 1864, of disease. "He 
was a good soldier," says a comrade, " killed by over-duty." 

CAPTAIN ANDKEW T. BLODGETT. 
The following lines were written by the author of these 
memoirs, on visiting the grave of Andrew T. Blodgett, in 
the cemetery at Des Moines : — 

Heroic boy, is this thy grave ? 

It is new made: this oaken board — 
Is't fit memorial to the brave 

Who for his country drew his sword ? 

Thou hast a fairer monument — 

'_Tis Freedom's ensign with its stars : 
Ah, blood redeemed that flag, unrent, 

Untarnished from the hand of Mars. 

And freely, warmly, flowed thine own ; 

Because thou wast a patriot true : 
Thy country's glor}^ on thee shone; 

Thy country's greatness passed in view. 

And now, methinks, I hear thee tell 

What rapture in thy bosom rose, 
When thou didst scorn both Death and Hell, 

Defiant of thy country's foes ! 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 371 

I kneel and kiss thy grave — my tears, 

So warm, bedew the crumbling clod; 
I consecrate anew my years 

To Country, Liberty, and God. 

Now peacefully with Jasper rest. 

And Lawrence — hero of the sea : 
Ah, thou hast joined the patriots blest, 

That fought at old Thermopylje! 
Des Moines, May 5th, 1866. 

So much has been written and said concerning the self- 
sacrificing bravery of the heroes of Thermopylae, and of 
Jasper and Lawrence, that we are led almost to think that 
they were brave beyond all other men, and that they can- 
not be equaled. But the late war has shown thousands of 
instances of bravery and devotion to country equal to that 
shown by the most renowned heroes of history. I do not 
hesitate to say that Captain Blodgett was as brave, and 
noble, and patriotic, and heroic a man as ever lived ; and I 
will be borne out in the assertion by the testimony of all 
who were witnesses to his prowess on the field. When he 
stood upon the caisson at the battle of AUatoona, within a 
few yards of the advancing Rebels, waving his sword and 
shouting " I never will surrender," cheering on his men to 
resist to the death, Jasper upon the ramparts of Moultrie 
and Savannah did not surpass him in heroism — and when 
he fell, he fell as nobly as Lawrence, asking only for the 
success of his country's cause. He bared his bosom in 
the face of the foe, and poured out his blood as freely 
as did Leonidas, and with at least as pure a motive ; for 
Blodgett did not expect fame — he fought only for his 
country's honor. 

" At the battle before Atlanta," says Colonel George C. 
Tichenor, " General Dodge ordered Blodgett's battery into 
position, and sent forward three regiments to check the 
enemy's advance, while he could form his corps in line of 
battle. Blodgett, instead of taking position in rear of the 
infantry, advanced three of his pieces to our lines of skir- 



372 AMERICAN ^PATRIOTISM. 

mishers, which position he held (within seventy-five paces 
of the enemy's battle line) until ordered back. And 
throughout the entire battle he kept his pieces on the front 
line, and never have I heard a more rapid artillery fire ; 
the effect of which was that hundreds of torn and mangled 
bodies of Rebels lay before his guns. For his bravery on 
this occasion, he was complimented in special orders by 
General Sherman." .... "At Dallas," continues Colonel 
Tichenor, " on the 28th of May, his battery was on the front 
line, protected by a low and hurriedly constructed parapet, 
not higher than the men's waists. The enemy charged in 
solid masses right up to the work ; some of them gaining 
it and leaping inside. They seemed determined to take 
the battery. Their heaviest masses were hurled upon it. 
They poured a deadly fire into the men at the guns, and it 
seemed that all must be killed ; but Blodgett, perfectly 
cool and collected, stood at his post giving orders, and 
helping to load the guns with his own hands, double- 
shotting them with grape and canister, and pouring the 
most rapid and deadly fire into the enemy's columns. 
After repeated and desperate charges the enemy fled dis- 
comfited." 

It was after this fight, I am informed, that the general 
in command (McPherson) came around to compliment 
Blodgett personally for his great bravery ; but found him 
while his guns were yet hot, lying fast asleep under them. 
The general remarked that a more perfect sample of a 
true soldier he had never seen. 

"• During the Atlanta campaign," says Colonel Tichenor, 
" Blodgett commanded Wilkes' celebrated battery, and on 
every occasion when his battery was brought into action, 
he distinguished himself, and won the plaudits of his su- 
periors, receiving on a number of occasions special men- 
tion in orders from division, corps, army and department 
head-quarters." 

When Blodgett first entered the service, after reaching 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 373 

the front with his regiment, the night previous to the battle 
of Parker's Cross-Roads, he was detailed as one of the 
picket-guard. The regiment moved next morning at day- 
light, and under the excitement of anticipated battle, the 
officer of the day forgot or neglected to relieve Blodgett 
and his guard of about twenty men, then within a mile or 
two of Forrest's army. Blodgett saw the army move away, 
and believed the failure to relieve him was the result of 
neglect, and knew that to remain on post was to risk 
almost certain capture or death, yet he would not quit his 
place. After the army moved the Rebels closed in between 
Blodgett's picket-guard and the Union forces. A regiment 
of rebel cavalry moving down the road, observed Blodg- 
ett's party stationed at the end of the lane, and sent down 
a party ordering him to surrender. Though these were 
the first armed Rebels he had met, he refused to surrender, 
and opened fire upon them. The Rebels, supposing his 
force to be greater than it was, turned about and dis- 
appeared. Blodgett was finally relieved by Union forces 
coming up, and he joined the main command. 

He was with the lamented Marshall when this officer 
was murdered by guerrillas. Here is Blodgett's account 
of the affair : — • 

** Hd.-Qks. 39th Iowa, Corinth, Miss. 
" Through the exertions of Lieutenant-Colonel Redfield, 
who is in comnilind of the regiment, we (the regiment) 
received permission to go outside the picket line two miles 
to celebrate the Fourth. About 1 o'clock, p. m,, Lieutenant 
Marshall and myself left the regiment for the purpose of 
taking a ride. It was my intention to go but a short dis- 
tance, as 1 did not know at what time the command might 
return to Corinth. I was entirely without arms — did not 
even have a revolver with me. We were riding along very 
leisurely, laughing and talking — in fact so carelessly that 
our bridle-reins were dangling loosely on the horses' necks. 



374 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

We were crossing a low, marshy swamp. The road, which 
was made of poles and rails, and over which a horse could 
with difficulty walk, was thickly lined on either side with 
underbrush. We were riding abreast, as close as our 
horses could travel to each other, when we were startled 
by the command, ' Halt ! surrender ! ' Judge of my sur- 
prise, on looking to the side of the road, to see a dozen 
guerrillas standing in line about fifteen or twenty feet off. 
My first impulse was to escape. I buried the spurs into 
my horse. Rather by instinct than by any guidance of 
mine, he turned. In wheeling on the road, which was 
very narrow, his fore feet got off the rails and sank into the 
swamp. At this instant the first volley was fired. The 
balls whistled on every side of me. I thought my horse 
was going to fall and threw my feet from the stirrups. I 
felt for my revolver, but found that I had not even that 
chance of resistance. Again I buried the spurs into his 
sides. With an effort he regained the road and started off 
right beautifully. The last shot was fired at me as I was 
turning a bend in the road, distant about one hundred 
yards. The bullet whistled by close to my head. I then 
looked back, but could see only the smoke from their guns. 
I supposed that Marshall was captured ; but the thought 
did not occur to me that he was hurt. I supposed all the 
firing was at me, as I was trying to escape. I returned to 
the regiment, and soon had a sufficient force mounted and 
flying in pursuit of the guerrillas. We found Marshall 
lying in the road, pierced with bullets, his horse dying by 
his side. We could scarcely recognize his form in the 
bloody corpse before us. Five balls had passed through 
his body. His purse was gone, and a portion of his cloth- 
ing." 

The following is a copy of another of his letters : — 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 375 

*' Pulaski, Tenn., Dee. 16, 1863. 

" Dear Etta, — 'Tis Sunday morning, and a dark and 
gloomy one, too ; just such an one as we always choose for 
writing letters. The heavens are shrouded in the dark 
pall of the storm-cloud, while a cold drizzling rain warns 
me that 'tis wise to keep under the shelter of my tent. 
While writing, I find my thoughts wandering to my far-dis- 
tant home. Though the pleasures we enjoy in dream-land 
are fleeting, I would not be deprived of them for the world. 
Sometimes I wish there was a way of transporting the 
body as fast as thought travels. Do not think that I would 
wait for a leave of absence before paying you a flying 
visit Patter, patter, falls the rain upon my tent. When 
will I be permitted to see my dear friends again? The 
pattering rain-drops answer ' Nevermore I ' Tell me, ye 
sombre heavens, when will I meet my loving sisters ? 
Must I forever be separated from home and kindred ? An 
unseen angel gently whispers ' Forevermore ! ' Why these 
gloomy thoughts and dark forebodings ? I cannot answer. 
It must be the darkness around that causes such a feeling 
of melancholy. I will shake off the feeling, bid defiance 
to despondency, and dream of brighter, happier days — 
our country saved, peace restored, and the ' old flag ' tri- 
umphant. That will be happiness enough. Dear Etta, 
you do not know how much a soldier learns to love the 
flag that he follows. If he felt a veneration for it before, 
he loves its bright folds now, with an intensity which neither 
time nor sorrow can weaken. As the mariner depends 
on the twinklinor liorht in the far distant lio^ht-house to 
guide him through the roaring breakers, so does the soldier, 
borne on the fluctuating tide of battle, look to the flag as 
the beacon light of hope, leading him on to victory. So 
long as he can see its folds floating triumphantly he feels 
safe. 

" An officer asked me, a few days since, if I should re- 
enlist after my term of service had expired. I told him 



376 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

that so long as I was able to fight the enemies of my 
country, I would be found in the field. When I am ' crip- 
pled, old, and gray,' and the government will no longer ac- 
cept of my services, then I will pray that God in his justice 
will send the lightning's flash to strike down the accursed 
rebel flag, polluting my country's name. 

" But our happy land is destined to a more happy future. 
Like the poor penitent, it will come out purified by its suf- 
ferings. Desolating war will soon give place to joyous 
peace. Men who now meet with thoughts of death and 
vengeance will soon extend the hand of friendship." 

On the 9th of September, 1864, Blodgett relinquished 
the command of the battery. At retreat he said a few 
words to the officers and men of the conunand, thanking 
them for the readiness with which they had at all times 
obeyed every order he gave them. They then procured a 
brass band, and shortly after dark serenaded him, and 
through their orderly tendered him their sincere thanks 
for the manner in which he had commanded them during 
the campaign, and regretting to lose one of the truest and 
best of officers. The commanding general, in general 
orders, complimented him for gallant service rendered. 

At the time of his death, Blodgett was Captain of Com- 
pany B, 39th Iowa Infantry Volunteers. He fell at the 
battle of Allatoona, on the oth day of October, 1864. 

" Hd.-Qrs. 39th Iowa, Rome, Ga., > 
Oct. 10, 1864. i 
"T. K. BLODGETT, Esq.: 

" Dear Sir, — On yesterday the remnant of the 39th 

Iowa Infantry returned to camp. They had started on 

.Tuesday, the 4th inst., to reinforce Allatoona, that place 

being threatened by the enemy. Eight companies, with an 

aggregate of three hundred and eighty-four men, were in the 

expedition. Among them was Company B, commanded by 

your son, Andrew T. Blodgett. He was in good health and 

fine spirits, as was his custom when there was prospect of 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 377 

meeting the enemy. He had never experienced the sensa- 
tion of fear, and was always inspired by the highest senti- 
ments of chivah-y and honor. We all knew where to look 
for Lieutenant Blodgett in time of action, and he had 
passed through so many *severe engagements unscathed, 
and that while fighting in front, that we had come to regard 
him as possessing a charmed life. He was always cool and 
daring, and met his foes with defiance. It was so on the 
eventful 5th inst., at Allatoona. He had been posted on a 
road some distance from the fort, in command of two com- 
panies, and ordered to check the advance of the enemy. 
Here he fought them and drove them back time and again ; 
by his presence and daring inspiring the men with his 
own courage, thus holding five times his own numbers in 
check. At last the order came to fall back to the fort ; 
and with stubborn daring and heroism he fought the 
enemy over an exposed piece of ground, receiving an enfi- 
lading fire, contesting every inch. At length, reaching the 
fort with the remnant of his command, he being one of 
four of his officers yet alive, he posted his men at the 
works, and cheered them when charged by the columns of 
the enemy, proposing never to surrender, but rather to die 
and be buried with his comrades who were lying around. 
He passed up and down the lines cheering his men, and 
defying the massed columns of the enemy, who were then 
charging the fort. While thus engaged he was struck by a 
musket-ball that passed through his body above the loins. 
His wound was mortal, and his sufferings severe ; but he 
made no complaint, not even uttering a groan. His great 
anxiety was for the success of our arms and the honor 
of his country. He lived about twenty minutes after he 
was struck — was able to talk and was perfectly rational. 
He made no request, sent no messages, and seemed only 
anxious to have his country and her flag honored ; dying 
as he had lived, a brave and honored man and officer. 
" Yery respectfully, your friend, 

» J. M. GRIFFITHS, Major ZQth loioa Infantry:* 



378 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

The news of his death came a sorrowful message to his 
home. " It seemed," says his mother, " that I could never 
give him up, until one gloomy day in winter, when the rain 
and sleet were falling, while walking in the garden, the 
precious words came into my mind — 

" ' No chilling winds, nor poisonous breath 
Can reach that healthful shore ; 
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death 
Are felt and feared no more.' " 

Andrew T. Blodgett died at the age of twenty-four ; he 
was a native of Wisconsin. His home and that of his 
parents had been, for several j^ears previous to the war, 
Des Moines, Iowa, where his remains were brought for 
burial. The father now rests by the side of the son. On 
the monument over Andrew's grave is inscribed — 

" ANDREW, 

SON OP T. K. AND M. A. BLODGETT ; 

Captain Company B, 

39th Iowa Volunteer Infantry ; 

Killed at Allatoona, Ga., 

October 5, 1864, 

Aged 

22 years, 9 months, 23 days. 

" ' I have fought thie good fight ; have finished the work thou gavest me to do.' " 

JOHN E. MILLS. 

To Mr. Mills of Allen Township, Polk County (who had 
two sons in the service, John and James), while James was 
confined in hospital at Nashville, on -account of wounds, 
came the news that John was dangerously wounded at the 
battle of Allatoona. Major Griffiths wrote, " He is mortally 
wounded." Mr. Mills started to go to Allatoona, to receive 
his son's body and convey it home for burial if dead ; but 
if John was yet alive, to minister to his wants, and if pos- 
sible, bring him home. When he reached Tullahoma he 
could go no farther ; for Hood was advancing on Nash- 
ville, and our trains were all occupied in transporting 



COMPANY B, THIPwTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 379 

" troops and munitions of war. The wounded were being 
conveyed to Nashville, where Mr. Mills awaited the arrival 
of his son. John came up in the night, and was placed in 
Hospital No. 19. John wrote to his mother from Nashville, 
Dec. 13, 1864 : — 

" Hospital No, 19, Ward 2. 
" Father was here last Sunday ; they told him I had 
been sent to Louisville. I telegraphed to him, but have 
received no reply. I feel a little better. I hear them 
fighting this, morning." 

" Dec. 27. 
" I am better, but weak. I think my wounds are doing 
very well." 

' "■ ' ''Dec. 28. 

" My breast broke and is running this morning. I fear 
that I may never see you in this world again." 

» Dec. 29. 

" I don't feel near so well, and I fear I never shall again 

be well in this world ; but I hope I shall in the world to 

come, and that we may all meet in that happy land, where 

there will be no more parting. I am uneasy about father, 

' and I cannot get letters from home, for the road is torn 

up." 

" Dec. 30. 

" I am sorry father is seeing so much trouble on my ac- 
count. If he had found me ever so long ago, he could not 
have removed me. My Avounds are improving slowly." 

The following letters are valuable, as showing some of 
the workings of the Christian Commission : — 

" Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 3, 1864. 
" Mrs. S. J. Mills, — I have to-day been in Hospital 
No. 19, looking after our sick boys. Tn going round to 
the cots I found your son. John E. Mills. He is quite 



380 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

feeble. He is wounded in two places. His wound in the • 
breast is not doing well. He is well cared for, and has all he 
wishes. His appetite is poor. I hardly think he can recover. 
I talked with him of his future. He says he relies upon the 
Saviour. For a month past he has been trying to serve 
his Saviour, and finds it his only comfort. He says nothing 
troubles him. He loves Jesus, and is prepared to die. 

" May the Saviour who loves while he afflicts, comfort 
and keep you ; and, if you do not find your boy before he 
dies, give you a blessed meeting that shall have no part- 
ing, in the world of light and glory to which he is going. 

" I am truly your friend, 

" Mrs. E. p. SMITH, 
Christian Commission, Nashville, TennJ'^ 

Another woman writes : — 

" This afternoon I have been sitting by the bedside of 
your son. He greeted me with a pleasant smile (as he 
always does) when I came to his cot. I immediately saw 
that he had failed much since yesterday. When I spoke 
to him his voice trembled. I said, ' You are not feeling so 
well to-day.' ' O no,' said he, ' I shall go this time.' The 
wound in his breast broke out yesterday anew. He has no 
appetite. Mrs. Latham made him a cup of good tea ; he 
seemed to relish it very well. He said he would like to 
see his friends once more ; but he remarked, ' I never 
shall.' I asked him if he had the Christian's hope and 
faith to sustain him. ' yes, I feel that I shall go home." " 

" Jan. 11. 

" John still lingers. He said to me, ' O that I could 
rest — could be at rest.' " 

'-Jan. 12. 

" I have just come from John's bedside. He looked up 
to me and said, ' if the good Lord would call me home ! ' 
He breathes with difficulty ; I think he is dying. I said 



COMPANY B, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 381 

to him, ' Have patience ; for in a few hours you will be at 
rest.' " 

" Jan. 13, 1865. 
" John died last night at fifteen minutes past seven. He 
died very easy. He had his senses to the last. I have 
just been in his ward ; his cot is vacant. I miss his pleas- 
ant, cheerful smile ; yet I feel to rejoice that his sufferings 
are over ; for I think he is with God. 
" I remain your friend, ^ 

" Mrs. S. A. BOND." 

V 

Mr. Mills, while in Nashville, went to Hospital No. 19, in 
search of his son, and passed within ten feet of his cot 
without knowing it, the ward-master showing by the books 
that John E. Mills had been sent to Louisville, day and 
date given. Mr. Mills started at once for Louisville ; 
looked through the hospitals there, and at Jeffersonville, 
Ind., and at New Albany, and at Indianapolis, and at St. 
Louis, and at Keokuk. Here he learned that John was 
still at Nashville ; arrived at Hospital No. 19, Nashville, 
again, three days after John had been buried ; took his 
remains from the ground and conveyed them home. He 
rests in the cemetery at Avon. 

John E. Mills left a pleasant home ; was well off in lands 
and means of wealth and comfort.' He was a soldier from 
a sense of duty ; and he served his country faithfully. 
He was born in Hancock County, Indiana, Sept. 15, 1836. 
He had lived with his parents in Polk County, Iowa, since he 
was a boy. Enlisted August 12, 1862. 

CORNELIUS S. GADDIS, 

Son-in-law to Mr. Kenworthy, of Allen Township, Polk 
County, was before the war a resident of Avon. He was 
born near Bellville, in Richland County, Ohio, July 3, 
1836, and died at the same place, in his father's house, 
April 10, 1865. He enlisted in the 39th Iowa regiment, 



382 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

August 12, 1862, and was discharged March 11, 1865, at 
Indianapolis, Ind., for disability. Gaddis was a good citi- 
zen, a kind husband and father, and a dutiful soldier. He 
suffered much. 

He writes : — 

" In Hospital, Nov. 28, 1863. 

" Dear Lyde, — .... Now, when I feel bad, I 
have to take a walk. I have just returned from one. 
how I wish you could have been with me. I think the time 
would have passed off more pleasantly. I wonder where 
you are to-day. I hope you have more agreeable company 
than I have here. How I wonder if every man that has 

been sick feels as I do. Time passes slowly 

The bell is ringing for church. I would be at a loss at 
church now, it has been so long since I have been there. 

. . . . If you were here I could talk to you much 
better than I can write. Kiss the children for me." 

Indeed, Gaddis was not a hardy man. He spent much 
of his time in hospital, while a soldier. His love of home 
and family was intense — though while in health he was 
cheerful and contented in the army. 



COMPANY I, THIRTY-NINTH IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

JAMES G. LEONARD. 

Samuel G. Thornton says : — 

" Corinth, Feb. 2, 1862. 

" This morning I went into Ward No. 1, a few minutes 
after James Leonard breathed his last. His eyes and 
mouth were open, as if he was gently breathing. A nurse 
said, ' He's not dead, is he ? ' I felt his pulse, then placed 
my hand over his heart. He was still warm ; but the 
spirit had gone to God who gave it. I announced the 
solemn fact, and closed his eyes. This boy and his father 
belonged to Company I, and lived in Adelphi." 

Aged seventeen ; a native of Ohio ; enlisted Aug. 6, 
1862 ; died of fever at Corinth. 

ISAAC MILLER 

Lived at Des Moines ; enlisted Aug. 12, 1862 ; aged forty- 
four ; a native of Pennsylvania ; taken prisoner by the 
enemy at Parkers Cross-Roads, and released on parole ; 
died of bilious remittent fever, Dec. 11, 1863, at Lcnton 
Barracks, Mo. 

CORPORAL WILLIAM B. SANFORD 

Was born in Laporte County, Indiana, March 30, 1844 ; 
came with his parents to Polk County, Iowa, in 1855 ; en- 
listed Aug. 22, 1862 ; killed in the battle of Allatoona, Ga., 
Oct. 5, 1864. He was a brave and patriotic soldier. He 
says, in one of his letters, speaking of the disloyal at home : 
" It makes me almost cry to think that they will try to 



384 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

break down so sfood a orovernment. I am willincr to fis^^t 
for the next ten years to put down the Rebellion. I am 
here and I shall fight it through, or die in the attempt." 

Sergeant Jones, of the same company, says : — 

" Sanford was one of the best boys in the company. He 
was shot through the breast at the battle of Allatoona, as 
the regiment was retreating to the inner works. He was 
seen by one of his comrades, with his handkerchief endeav- 
oring to stop the flow of blood from his bosom ; was not 
again seen till he was found dead in the ditch after the 
fight. It was a hard blow on the company, for he was its 
life. His comrades often talked of him around the camp 
fire ; for he was greatly missed." 

JOSHUA ADAMSON 

Enlisted from Camp Township, Polk County, Aug, 22, 
1862 ; aged twenty two ; a native of Indiana ; was wounded 
in the elbow as the regiment was falling back to the main 
intrenchments, at Allatoona ; he turned round to pick up 
his gun, and was again struck and instantly killed. " A 
good soldier," say his comrades ; " he cannot be spoken of 
too highly." 

LAWSON A. SMITH. 

The brothers, Lawson and Eli Smith, were members of 
Company I. After the battle of Allatoona, Lawson was 
missing ; Eli found him in a little shanty, severely 
wounded — a ball having passed along his spine, coming 
out above the shoulder. He died in hospital, at Rome, 
Ga., Oct. 26, 1864. Lawson Smith was a good soldier and 
a good man. He had been married about four years ; died 
at the age of twenty-three ; born in Jasper County, Indi- 
ana, April 22, 1840 ; he was twelve years a resident of 
Polk County — near McDevitt's Grove. 



COMPANY H, FORTY-FOURTH IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

JOHN HENRY RITTGERS 
Died Sept. 15, 1864, at Davenport. The regiment had 
been encamped during tpart of the summer at Memphis. 
Here, on the 2d of July, Rittgers was taken sick with 
measles. In August he wrote, from Overton Hospital : — 

" I did not have the measles very hard — was about 
well, but took a relapse. I hope, by the help of God, to 
get over this sickness. I have a very good place in the 
hospital ; a good bed and kind attention, and almost every- 
thing I wish to eat." 

Sept. 8th the regiment left Memphis for Davenport. A 
comrade (John Highlands), while carrying Rittgers to the 
boat, said to him ; " Don't be discouraged, John, we will 
soon be at home." Rittgers replied, " I am not discour- 
aged ; I do not expect to ever see home again, but I am 
satisfied. My life is given in a good cause." 

While he was lying on his cot in hospital, at Davenport, 
his comrade said to him, " John, do you think that you 
are dying ? " "I am," he replied. " Have you any word to 
send home ? " said his comrade. John answered, " Tell 
them all is well." His comrade asked, " Would you like 
to see them ? " " Yes," said John, " but I am satisfied." 
He then placed his arms around his comrade's neck, and 
died with a sweet smile on his countenance. He had never 
done any harm in his life, and was not afraid to die. He 
was a member of the United Brethren Church, with which 
25 



386 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

he bad been connected two years, living always up to the 
requirements of bis profession. He served but a sbort 
term in tbe army ; was always prompt and dutiful as a 
soldier, and bore his sickness with great fortitude. He 
was a native of Ohio ; age, eighteen. He was buried in 
the cemetery, near Camp Kinsman, Davenport. His 
mother, a widow, lives in Jefferson Township. His sister 
Mary, a very intelligent and accomplished lady, is a teacher 
in the Asylum for the Blind, at Iowa City. 



COMPANY F, FORTY-SEVENTH IOWA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

This company was principally recruited in the city of 
Des Moines, between April 26 and May 18, 1864, mainly 
through the efforts of Major George J. North, thep mili- 
tary and afterward private secretary to Governor W. M. 
Stone, for the service of one hundred days, although the 
company served until Sept. 28, 1864. It was made up of 
men who could not easily be spared from their homes and 
industrial pursuits, and of numbers who had served previ- 
ously until health and strength had given out, but who had 
partially recuperated since their discharge. The country 
had been stripped of its youth, until barely enough were 
left to occupy the places that must be filled or business be 
closed and the plough remain idle in the furrow. 

In order that this company might be filled up, in many 
cases, patriotic women went into stores, and not a few into 
the field, to plough, sow, and reap in the place of their 
husbands, brothers, and sons. This service was popular. 
Every one who loved his country and was able to perform 
temporary military duty, gladly availed himself of the oppor- 
tunity to enlist, and have it to say that he too had shoul- 
dered a musket in defense of his country. Those who re- 
mained at home to carry on business, and raise and manu- 
facture whatever was needful for the comfort and support 
of the soldiers in the field and their families, were obliged 
to do double duty and more than double duty. Mothers 
parted with their sons, who were as yet but fifteen or six- 
teen years old, but anxious to be soldiers for Uncle Sam, 
and as it was to be but for " one hundred days," little re- 



388 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

luctance was felt in letting them go. Alas ! how many of 
those boys now sleep their last long sleep, stricken down 
by the hand of disease ! 

The following incident may be relied on as true ; and 
had it occurred in Greece or Rome, would have been im- 
mortalized in song or story. A young man came to Major 
North, stating that he desired to enlist, with the privilege 
of withdrawing if the lady to whom he was engaged soon 
to be married was unwilling. Major North assured him 
that he ajDpreciated such feelings of loyalty, both to the 
government and his betrothed ; and if the lady should 
refuse her consent, the enlistment papers should be de- 
stroyed. In a few days the soldier alluded to returned to 
head-quarters, a happy, married man, stating that his be- 
trothed not only gave her free consent to his enlistment, 
but was also willing to become his wife, and then give, not 
only her lover, but her husband to their common country. 
After serving his time nearly out, this soldier became sick, 
from the poisonous air of Helena, and only survived long 
enough to reach home and die in his wife's arms. 

The " hundred days' troops," so called, were a voluntary 
offering to the government from several of the North- 
western States, over and above their respective quotas, 
and were not only accepted, but their prompt enrollment 
was urged by dispatches from President Lincoln and Major- 
General Sherman, for the purpose, principally, of enabling 
the latter to begin with his whole force of veteran soldiers 
his projected grand advance to Atlanta, which ended in the 
capture of the strongholds of the Atlantic seaboard. 

What results followed the employment of these troops it 
is not our province to say, except so far as Company F, 
47th Iowa is concerned. This regiment, like all of the 
other Iowa hundred days' organizations, was ordered from 
Washington, through the efforts of Governor Stone, to the 
rear of Memphis, to relieve a regiment of General Sher- 
man's veterans ; but on arriving at Memphis, this order 



COMPANY F, FORTY-SEVENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 389 

was not shown to General Washbiirne, and he ordered the 
Forty-seventh at once to Helena, Ark., which point was 
threatened by the Rebels and supposed to be in imminent 
danger. Helena, with its unhealthy springs of water and 
deadly miasma, has slain more Union soldiers than have 
fallen in many hotly fought fields. Company F arrived 
there in the heats of June, and at once entered upon its 
course of hard, faithful, and efficient service. As an illus- 
tration of the unhealthiness of Helena, we need only allude 
to the fact that one regiment, that had already served two 
years and consisted of 800 men, in the course of two 
months' service at this place became so reduced as to 
report only about 50 men for duty ; and another regiment, 
with a like amount of service, became so prostrated as to 
report only 16 men fit for duty. While there, the Forty- 
seventh was almost daily in expectancy of an engage- 
ment and constantly busy at the multifarious labors of 
garrison service. Its camp was a model for neatness and 
order, its food carefully cooked, its discipline excellent, and 
its willingness to perform duty and to fight when called 
on, ever apparent. Although it was not its lot to engage 
in a battle, yet it was only because the Rebels gave it no 
opportunity ; and we venture to affirm that few regiments 
in the course of the first four months' service, performed a 
larger amount of hard duty, under equally discouraging 
and disheartening circumstances. Company F lost twelve 
men by death, and many of its members sufifered from 
disease for years after discharge. 

The members of this company who received commis- 
sions were — Major George J. North, Captain David J. 
Pattee, Lieutenants Welden England and Josiah M. Vale. 
The names of the dead of this company are as follows : — 

WILLIAM B. HERRING 

Lived at Hanover, in Polk County, and in 1864 was at- 
tending school at Forest Home Seminary, in Des Moines, 
when he enlisted. An upright and intelligent young man ; 



390 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

aged nineteen. He took sick at Cairo, when the regiment 
was on it way down the river. Landing at Helena, the 
post hospital being full, the sick of the 47th Iowa were 
poorly provided for, being left in tents without furniture. 
Herring lay for several days on the ground, with only his 
blanket under him. At last he was admitted into the hos- 
pital, too late for his recovery. A soldier writes : — 

" June 27, 1864. 
" Byres Herring died yesterday, a few minutes before 
twelve o'clock. I was sitting by him when he died. In 
the morning, early, he seemed better than he had been for 
some days ; but about nine o'clock he took a chill and sunk 
away. He went to sleep, apparently. He seemed to have 
no pain." 

Again he writes : — 

" Poor Herring, a few hours before he died, was very 
hopeful. Said that he had been pretty sick, but now he 
felt all right." 

Herring was a native of Indiana. 

MILLAED E. ROLLINS, 

Was a noble-hearted boy and one of the best soldiers in the 
company, though only seventeen years old. His parents 
lived in East Des Moines, 5th ward, and depended largely 
upon his labor for support. Of Rollins' death a comrade 

writes : — 

" Helena, July 17, 1864. 

" Our boys take sick and die without a struggle. A boy 
by the name of Rollins, one of the best little ])oys in our 
company, took a chill. He did not think much of it. He 
was not uneasy. His chill passed off. He had a fever. I 
saw him in the evening — talked with him. He thought 
he would be up in a day or two ; was cheerful. The next 
morning he was dead ; died in a congestive chill. It does 
seem that a man's life hangs on a brittle thread. The sick 



COMPANY F, FORTY-SEVENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 391 

have good care — good beds as they would have at home. 
Whatever they need is here, it would seem. The women 
of the North have done good. There is a change of 
clothes for the sick every two or three days ; the bed-linen 
is changed every day. About a dozen black women are 
kept busy every day washing for them. All the sick boys, 
and nurses, too, put on clean shirts and drawers last even- 
ing made by the Soldier's Aid Society, of Davenport ; sent 
by that society ; perhaps contributed from different parts of 
the State." 

Rollins was a native of Maine, and died July 16, 1864, 
at Helena, Ark. 

JOHN LAIRD McClelland 

Was well known in Des Moines ; known only as a good 
boy ; intelligent and promising ; son of Judge J. H. Mc- 
Clelland ; an only son — the hope and pride of his fond 
parents lie was a little past fifteen ; vigorous and active 
in body and mind. He died at Helena, Ark., Aug. 1, 1864, 
of intermittent fever. A comrade says : — 

" Helena, Akk., Aug. 3, 1864. 

" Poor Laird McClelland is dead ! He died on Monday, 
night ; was buried yesterday evening. I had a talk with 
him on Sunday. He seemed low-spirited ; but I had no 
idea^ but that he would get well. Laird was a good boy. 
It will be a heavy stroke on the Judge ; for he was his only 
son, and he had a great deal of hope in him. But he is 
gone — died for his country as much as if he had fallen in 
battle ; for if we had not been sent to this sickly place, 1 
have no doubt he would be alive to-day." 

, Again, Aug. 25 : — 

" The day before he died, though he was quite low, still 
I had no thought that death was so near to him ; I had no 
other thought but that he would be about shortly, and re- 
turn with us joyfully up the river. Poor boy ! When I 



392 AMERrCAX PATRIOTISM. 

talked to him of home, how timidly he put his face under 
the cover — perhaps to hide a tear. I tried to cheer him ; 
told him that I had been sick a couple of v/eeks ; that he 
would no doubt be up soon, too." 

McClelland left many friends and relatives in Des 
Moines. He was born in Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, 
Feb. 12, 1849. When he arrived at Helena, June 18, he 
writes : — 

" This is said to be the most sickly place on the river — 
there being a large swamp below us, and the city muddy ; 
but it is well fortified." 

July 5, he writes : — 

" There has been considerable talk of the Rebs taking 
this place. The rebel General Hindman said he was go- 
ing to dine in his house on the Fourth of July. His house, 
or the one that did belong to him, is one of the best houses 
in the place. We at present use it for a hospital. Now 
the Fourth is past, and the rebel general has not dined 
here yet." 

Laird McClelland breathed out his life in a hospital-tent, 
a few rods north of the Hindman house, and was buried on 
the hill-side, near by. But afterward his remains were ex- 
humed and brought to Des Moines, and his body now rests 
in Woodland Cemetery. Upon the beautiful monument, 
erected over the grave by his parents, is inscribed — 

" JOHN L., 

Son of 

J. H. AND E. MCCLELLAND, 

Died at Helena, Ark., 

August 1, 1864, 

Aged 

15 years, 5 months, 15 days : 

Interred here 

December 10, 1864. 

Member Company F, 47th Regiment Iowa Volunteers. 



COMPANY F, FORTY-SEVENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 393 

MILES D. MATTERN, 

Son of Mr. David Mattern, of Mitcliellville, Polk County, 
and the third of his sons to die during the war, enlisted 
May 28, and accompanied the regiment to Helena, doing 
duty until July 16, when his sickness began. He writes : 

" Helena, Ark., July 14, 1864. 
" We are fixed up pretty well. We are camped on the 
bank of the river ; the bank steep and high. Our tents run 
in parallel lines east and west ; the tents of each company 
form two lines, fronting each other, the space between 
nicely shaded. We have had nothing to do with the Rebs 
yet, and I am afraid that we are not to have any brush 
with them. There was some talk of there being a fight 
here on the Fourth. Eight thousand rebel cavalry were 
reported outside. They thought it best not to disturb us. 
I think it was well for them that they did not." 

Chaplain J. P. Roach writes : — 

"Helena, Akk., Aug. 27, 1864. 
"Must I tell you that your beloved brother Miles is 
dead ? He died a few minutes ago, after a few days of se- 
vere affliction. From my inmost soul I sympathize with 
your family ! All was done for his relief that could be 
done. We have lost near forty men since we came here. 
We will bury Miles in a short time, perhaps at twilight. 
The boys are all deeply afflicted by his death. He was 
dearly beloved by all the company. I never heard a per- 
son speak of him that did not praise him. His body will 
soon be deposited in the narrow mansion on the hill-side, 
where sleep many of our noble boys. 0, shall we, after 
suffering so much here, all meet in that world of joy and 
peace where, I trust, his spirit is basking in the smiles of a 
blessed Saviour ? " 



394 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Miles D. Mattern died at the aoe of eighteen. He was 
a native of Pennsylvania. 

SIMON M. CHENOWETH, 

Nephew of Mr. William Moore, of Des Moines, and for- 
merly a clerk in his store, enlisted from the fourth ward, 
Des Moines, May 20, 1864, and died in hospital at Daven- 
port, of typhoid pneumonia, Oct. 7, 1864. His disease was 
brought on by exposure at Helena, and cold contracted 
on picket guard. Simon was well respected in the com- 
pany ; a careful, upright young man. He was not very 
strong and healthful, but was very careful to avoid expos- 
ure as much as he properly could, knowing the natural 
feebleness of his body. His mother visited him in hospital, 
and nursed him in his last illness. When he felt death 
approaching he raised up on his knees in bed and offered 
up a fervent prayer to his Creator for pardon for all of his 
past oifenses. He prayed for the officers of his company, 
and all of his comrades — calling each by name. He was 
heard all through the hospital, and the sick, that were able, 
sat up to listen to his dying petition. An earnest and de- 
voted soldier. He wrote his mother from Helena : " Mother, 
I try to be a Christian soldier, as well as a soldier for Uncle 
Sam." He was born in Franklin, Johnson County, Ind., 
August 8, 1845. He had lived in Iowa ten years. 

EDWARD WRIGHT FEET, 

Son of Dr. Edward W. Peet, Episcopal clergyman, died 
in the month of October, 1864. No one was better known 
in Des Moines, nor more highly respected. He was a 
young man of much promise. A good soldier ; intelligent, 
and prompt to do duty. His father says, in a letter to 
me — 

" His prayer-book is before me. I gave it to him the 
dav he went away, and I wrote in it — 



COMPANY F, FORTY-SEVENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 395 

" ' Des Moines, May 21, 1864. 
" ' For my son, Edward W. Peet : faithful and loving as 
a son, he will prove a good soldier ; faithful and true to his 
country and his God. 

" ' YOUR FATHER.' 

" You know that my prediction was verified." 

And Dr. Peet says further, — 

" Edward was born in the house of his grandfather, Hon. 
William Creighton, in Chillicothe, Ohio, Feb. 15, 1843. 
From early boyhood he was remarkable for soundness and 
maturity of judgment. He was affectionate but not de- 
monstrative, and the most reliable child I have ever known 
to go an errand of any kind, when calm good sense was 
requisite. At the age of seven and eight years, we could 
send him safely on the railway train, to Newark, or New 
York, twelve and twenty miles away ; and he went without 
hesitation to his grandmother's, sixty miles beyond New 
York alone. He came alone with me to Iowa, then in his 
twelfth year, and was of infinite service to me, and I often 
followed his judgment in preference to my own. As soon as 
the war began Edward wanted to enlist, but I did not con- 
sent. After the defeat of I>ull Run, he again requested 
me to let him go. I said, ' Wait, you'll have opportunity 
enousfh to take the field. This war will not be done in a 
day.' As soon as he was twenty-one he enlisted, and with 
my consent. He worked night and day to get ready him- 
self, and to get me ready to do without him." 

Edward W. Peet had lived with his parents in Des 
Moines since about the year 1855, loved by all. He was 
apparently of strong constitution ; but like many others 
he fell a victim to the unhealthful climate of Helena, Ark. 
He was in feeble health when the company reached Dav- 
enport, Iowa, from the South. There, in barracks, waiting 



396 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

to be mustered out, the weather suddenly changing (be- 
coming quite cold), he was prostrated from the effects of 
the exposure, and never again arose. 

WILLIAM C. SAMPSON 

Was a relative of Sergeant Lionel Foster's ; a former res- 
ident of Des Moines, and member of Company F, 47th 
Iowa. Sampson was a native of Canada West, a well ed- 
ucated, intelligent, and upright young man ; had lately come 
to this country, and was under no obligation to j^erform 
military service whatever. He was, I am informed, only 
on a visit here to his friends in Des Moines, when he en- 
listed. He was very rugged ; but Helena, with its burning 
sun and malarious swamps, overcame this child of the 
North. He was sent up the river to St. Louis, and remained 
there in hosf)ital a while, and was then placed on a hospital 
boat to be sent to Davenport, but died on the way, and was 
buried at Cairo ; aged twenty-two. 

LORENZO L. ROBINSON 

Had been sick some time when the regiment reached Dav- 
enport on its way home ; but he was still able to go about. 
When mustered out he went to Illinois, where his wife had 
gone to visit her friends. There, in October 1864, he died. 
He enlisted from East Des Moines, oth ward. He was a 
good man, highly respected in the company, and he had 
many friends in Des Moines. Native of New York ; age 
forty. 

BENJAMIN A. BROOKS, 

Son of Mr. Stephen Brooks, of Four Mile Township, Polk 
County, was a promising boy ; honest, intelligent, and truth- 
ful. Died after the close of the war, at Chicago, Illinois, 
of disease. Age, eighteen ; native of Indiana ; enlisted 
May 17, 1864. He was a good and dutiful soldier. Before 
he entered the service, he was for some time a student in 
Des Moines, at Forest Home Seminary. 



COMPANY F, FORTY-SEVENTH IOWA INFANTRY VOLS. 397 



THEODORE F. VESTAL, 
THOR FATLAND, 

Were two true and faithful soldiers of this company ; 
they died after their return to their homes. They were not 
accredited to Polk County. They lived, however, very near 
the border ; Vestal in Boone Township, Dallas County, 
nine miles west of Des Moines, and Fatland near the line 
between Story and Polk Counties. Of Theodore Vestal I 
can truthfully say that a more patriotic man never entered 
the army. He left behind him a young wife, to whom he 
had been married but a few days. He returned home to 
die. He was a native of Indiana. Thor Fatland was a 
true and good boy — only a boy ; kind and affable ; he was 
liked by all. He was a native of Norway. 

FELIX Mccarty, 

Was a member of Company H, 47th Iowa ; transferred from 
Company F ; age about fifteen years. A well-meaning 
boy ; an intelligent and dutiful soldier. His parents lived 
during the war, in Des Moines. On his way home after he 
had been discharged at Davenport, he was left sick at 
Mitchellville. Here his sister came for him and conveyed 
him home to Des Moines in a buggy. Felix died some 
time in October. His birthplace I do not know, but think 
it was Ireland. 



COMPANY D, SIXTIETH U. S. INFANTRY 

(or first IOWA INFANTRY OF AFRICAN DESCENT). 

A LARGE proportion of the members of this company 
enlisted from Des Moines. It was mustered into the ser- 
vice of the United States October 11, 1863. The regi- 
ment was stationed at Helena, Ark., and Little Rock. It 
did good service, and was mustered out at Little Rock, 
Oct. 17, 1865 ; paid and disbanded at Davenport. The 
following are the names of members of Company D, from 
Des Moines, who died in the service. I have not been 
able to learn much concerning the lives of these men, but 
their names I am glad to preserve. As slaves, they served 
their masters under the lash ; as free men, they voluntarily 
shouldered their muskets to fight for their country, and 
they died at the post of duty. 

PETER CALAHAN, 

Age, twenty-one ; residence, Des Moines ; native of Vir- 
ginia ; first corporal; enlisted Aug. 19, 1863; died April 
10, 1864, at Helena, Ark., of small-pox. *' He was a man 
of some learning, and," says a comrade, " he was consid- 
ered a good man." 

GABRIEL ROBINSON, 

Age, twenty-five ; residence, Polk County ; native of Ken- 
tucky ; sixth corporal ; enlisted August 22, 1863 ; died 
November 10, 1863, at Keokuk, Iowa, of erysipelas. He 
was religious : a member of the church, and lived up to 
his professions. 



COMPANY D, SIXTIETH U. S. INFANTRY VOLS. 399 



WILFORD ARNOLD, 
Age, eighteen ; residence, Des Moines, Polk County ; na- 
tive of Missouri; private; enlisted^Sept. 6, I860, and died 
July 23, 1864, at Helena, Ark., of disease. 

WASHINGTON BELL, 

Age, nineteen ; residence, Des Moines, Polk County, na- 
tive of Missouri ; private ; enlisted Aug. 19, 1863, and died 
March 3, 1864, at Benton Barracks, Missouri, of disease. 
Lived in Des Moines before the war, " and," says a com- 
rade, Mr. Samuel Cochran, " he was considered a punctual 
man ; quiet, and well thought of." 

WILLIAM CLAY, 

Age, twenty-two ; residence, Des Moines, Polk County ; 
native of Kentucky; private; enlisted August 20, 1863, 
and died August 9, 1865, at Little Rock, Ark., of typhoid 
malarial fever. He had worked in Des Moines one sum- 
mer ; a prompt and dutiful soldier, and a religious man. 

FREDERICK DOUGLAS, 

Age, twenty ; residence, Des Moines, Polk County ; native 
of Missouri ; private; enlisted September 1, 1863, and 
died January 13, 1865, at Helena, Ark., of pneumonia. 

ALFRED PRATT, 

Age, twenty-four ; residence, Des Moines, Polk County ; 
native of Virginia ; private; enlisted August 20, 1863; 
died January 11, 1865, at Helena, Ark., of disease. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA CAVALRY. 

Company D, Second Iowa Cavalry, like Comi3any D, 
Second Iowa Infantry, was made up principally in Des 
Moines. George C. Graves, a native of Prussia, and for- 
merly an officer in the army of his native country, was 
elected captain ; Gustavus Washburn, first lieutenant ; 
and Joseph E. Jewett, second lieutenant. The company 
went into quarters August 7, 1861, and was mustered 
into the United States service, on the 30th of the same 
month. The accounts of the marches and battles in 
which this regiment participated, are scattered all through 
the reports of the Adjutant-General of Iowa, and it is almost 
impossible for me to give a correct outline of them. It 
performed as much hard and gallant service as any regi- 
ment in the western army. Its first service was in pursu- 
ing Jeff. Thompson through Missouri ; then it was engaged 
about New Madrid, until the capture of that place ; then 
about Corinth until its evacuation ; and was there highly 
complimented by General Pope, for its most gallant charge 
at Farmington, Miss., May 9, 1862. It participated in five 
distinct expeditions, and not less than ten severe skirmishes. 
During the summer and fall of 1862, the regiment was at- 
tached to the cavalry brigade of Sheridan, then operating 
in Tennessee. It took part with Grierson in his wonderful 
raid through Mississippi, operating independently to divert 
the attention of the enemy, having quite a sharp fight 
with the Rebels at Palo Alto, killing, wounding, and captur- 
ing about 150 of them ; and it was engaged in many other 
hot skirmishes. It was the operations of this regiment that 
enabled Colonel Grierson to make his raid successfully. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA CAVALRY VOLS. 401 

The Second Cavalry made a gallant charge at Jackson, 
Tenn., in July, 1863, against Forrest's command ; it reen- 
listed as a veteran regiment in the winter of 1863-64; af- 
terwards it operated against Forrest, in West Tennessee, 
and Northern Alabama. Its skirmishes in Alabama were 
at Shoal Creek, Aberdeen, and Butler Creek ; in Tennes- 
see, Lawrenceburg, Campbellville, Linnville, Mount Car- 
mel, and New Franklin. It took an important part in re- 
sisting the advance of Hood into Tennessee, and also in 
driving the rebel army from that State. The regiment took 
a conspicuous part in the battles before Nashville, on the 
15th, 16th, and 17th of December, 1864, making charges 
dismounted, and capturing forts, and also charging in the 
saddle. It captured many prisoners from the enemy. It 
was engaged also on the 19th of December, at Rutherford 
Creek, Tenn., and on the 25th, near Pulaski. 

The Second Iowa Cavalry was mustered out of the ser- 
vice at Selma, Ala., Sept. 19, 1865, having been in the 
service over four years. 

The commissioned officers of Company D, besides those 
already named who received commissions during the war, 
were — Captain Francis M. Griffith, First Lieutenant 
Samuel J. Dangler, Second Lieutenants Samuel Noel and 
Daniel Hall (whose residences were in Polk County). 
The following are the names of the dead of this company 
belonging to Polk County : — 

AUGUSTUS J. THINNIS, 

Age, twenty ; residence, Des Moines, Polk County (friends 
are said to live somewhere on Beaver Creek, in Jefferson 
Township) ; native of Ohio ; private ; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; died Jan. 2, 1862, at St. Louis, Mo., of measles. 
His death occurring before the regiment had gone into 
active service, while it was in camp of instruction, his com- 
rades knew little concerning him. " He was," say they, '• a 
good, sociable man." 

26 . 



402 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 



EPHRAIM WALKER, 

Age, nineteen ; born in Stoddard County, Mo. ; came to 
Iowa in 1850. He was a nephew of Mr. Alfred Harris, 
of Lee Township, Polk County, with whom he made his 
home. An industrious, sociable young man. Comrades 
say, " a good-hearted, clever boy." He never went into 
active service, as he died while the regiment was in bar- 
racks, at St. Louis ; but he was always prompt to do duty. 
Enlisted Aug. 2, 1861, and died of pneumonia, at St. Louis, 
Jan. 8, 1862. 

DAVID M. COCKERHAM 

Was amoral and temperate young man ; would neither chew 
tobacco nor drink whiskey ; inclined to be religious. At 
his request a comrade sat by his cot and read the Bible to 
him in his illness. He died at Benton Barracks, Mo., Jan. 
17, 1862, of pneumonia (having lain sick a long time), 
expressing in his last moments reliance on the Saviour. 
Born in Macon County, North Carolina, March 8, 1843 ; 
enlisted Aug. 2, 1861 ; residence, Saylor Grove, Polk 
County, where, he had lived several years. 

CHAPIN DUNCAN, 

An intelligent and amiable young man, died of pneu- 
monia, at St. Louis, Mo., March 5, 1862, aged twenty- 
four. He and his brother, William Duncan, enlisted at 
Rising Sun, Polk County, near which place they dwelt, 
having been in Iowa about eight years. Enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; a native of Canada East. 

ISRAEL HARDIN HOWARD, 

An excellent soldier, a religious and patriotic man, enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1861 ; residence, Saylor Township, Polk County, 
since 1845 ; born in Van Buren County, Iowa, March 31, 
1842 ; accidentally drowned at Cairo, 111., April 22, 1862; 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA CAVALRY VOLS. 403 

age, twenty. He had been five years a professor of re- 
ligion. He writes : — 

" Mother, I haven't forgot the good advice that you gave 
me. I want you to remember me in your prayers, that I 
may not yield to the temptations around me : for they are 
many. The drum is calling for meeting and I want to go. 
We have meeting here every Sunday, and prayer-meeting 
every Thursday night Mother, I thank you and fjither 
for bringing me up clear of the sins of sv/earing, gambling, 
and drinking. .... 

" If I fall, I cannot fall in a better cause. I am going to 
do the best I can. It cheers me up when I think I have 
praying parents. Father, you and mother bear me up in 
your jDrayers." 

Again he writes : — 

" I am going to sell my life as dearly as possible, if I am 
killed. I am engaged in a just cause, and I am going to 
stand right up to my duty, though I lose my life. I will 
not dishonor my connections. .... 

" I am bound by my oath to help put down the Rebellion, 

and I am going to do it if it costs me my life 

I could not be content if I were at home, and see our 
Union going to rack. I can take care of myself and keep 
from bad habits. I have been in the service five months, 

and I have thus far refrained from evil practices 

I am in ' during the war ; ' if I live I am going to see it 
through. .... I am here acting my part towards pro- 
tecting and preserving our glorious Union. The man that 
will not fight for the Union ought not to be called an 
American citizen." 

''Jan. 11, 1862. 

" I am well satisfied ; I intend to stand up to it like a 
good soldier, though I knew that a soldier's life is not very 



404 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

pleasant when I enlisted. I am with Uncle Sam if he 
wants me, and no sjrumblinff." 

Feb. 11th, he writes: "I am determined to do my 
duty." 

While at Cairo, preparing to leave for Tennessee. Israel, 
helping to load the boat with coal necessary for the trip, 
by accident stepped off the gangway and sunk under the 
boat in the Ohio River, and was never again seen. 

Miss Martha Mulligan, residing then at Saylorville, 
wrote : — 



" Mourn for the lost one ; weep for the dead ! 
Mourn for the gifted one, whose young spirit fled ; 
O weep for the young, the beautiful, the brave, 
Who went to fight the rebel foe, but sleeps beneath the wave. 
O Israel, thou art gone to join the loyal band, 
Who died beneath our glorious flag, for our own native land. 
Israel, thou wast well beloved, and to thy comrades dear; 
For thou wast amiable and kind, although devoid of fear; 
Thy parents long will mourn ; they will long deplore 
Their brave young soldier boy, who can return no more. 
Thy sisters, too, will grieve for thee and shed the silent tear, 
To think thou canst no more return, thou brave young volunteer. 
Thy brothers, too, will sigh to think the}^ ne'er can see thy grave, 
For far from them thou sleep'st in death, beneath Ohio's wave. 
Until the seas give up their dead; then glorious thou shalt rise. 
To join the radiant host that's gone to realms beyond the skies." 



HENRY H. DOUTHIT, 

Age, twenty-three, had lived with Mr. Benjamin Jones, of 
Des Moines, Iowa, from a little boy ; native of Indiana ; 
enlisted Aug. 2, 1861 ; died of wounds receiyed May 9, 
1862, on the Glendale road, near Farmington, Miss., the 
regiment being then on an expedition to cut the Memphis 
and Charleston Railroad. When returning into camp, hav- 
ing broken the road, it was fired into by a party of Rebels 
in ambush, and Douthit severely wounded, a buck-shot 
penetrating his forehead, but not quite entering the brain. 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA CAVALRY VOLS. 405 

Lying on his back, in the hospital, the ball settled into the 
brain, producing death, May 29, 1862. " Henry," say his 
comrades, " was an excellent soldier." Douthit was con- 
scious after he received his wound until a short time before 
he died. He was aware that he could not recover, and in 
anticipation of death, wrote to Mr. Jones : — 



" But my strength does not suffer me to dwell longer. 
When I look forward to that wondrous scene that is imme- 
diately before me, I shudder at the awful thought of pass- 
ing through that state of unconsciousness ; but I trust in 
God. While I remember that He says that not a sparrow 
shall fall to the ground without his appointment, 1 will not 
let go the anchor of my confidence in God. I will not be 
afraid ; for I am of more value than many sparrows. 

" Adieu, until all things will be revealed." 

H. H. HELTON, 

Age, forty-three ; residence, Des Moines, where he left a 
wife and children ; had been for a long time a well-known 
citizen of this city ; a native of Kentucky ; second ser- 
geant ; enlisted Aug. 2, 1861 ; wounded June 9, 1862, at 
Booneville, Miss., and discharged Aug. 22, 1862, for disa- 
bility, at Rienzi, Miss. ; die^ before he reached home. He 
was with his company in the i. oted charge at Farmington, 
Miss. ; displayed good soldierly qualities. Lieutenant 
Noel says Helton was an efficient soldier, meriting a com- 
mission, which he would have received if he had not been 
compelled to receive a discharge by reason of infirmity. 

SIMON S. SISLEY, 
Age, twenty-six ; native of Pennsylvania ; residence, Mitch- 
ellville, Polk County ;' enlisted Aug. 2, 1861; discharged, 
for disability, at Corinth, Oct. 15, 1862, and died on his way 
home. " He was a good soldier," says his comrade, Robert 



406 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

E. Barackman ; " did his duty promptly when called upon." 
" A good-hearted man," says another ; " rather rough, but 
kind to his Comrades." He left a wife and four children. 

PEEEY RICKABAUGH, 

Veteran, enlisted first, Aug. 2, 1861 ; veteranized, March 
1, 1864 ; was just preparing to start home on veteran fur- 
lough, when he took the small-pox, and died April 23, 
1864, at Memj^his, Tenn. His residence was Des Moines^ 
where he left a wife and three children ; had been a resi- 
dent of Iowa sixteen years ; died, aged thirty. 

DELANAH JOHNSON, 

Age, forty ; residence, Des Moines, Polk County ; native 
of Kentucky ; enlisted Aug. 2, 1861 ; kept a butcher shop 
in Des Moines before the war ; reenlisted as a veteran, 
March 1, 1864 ; took sick, was discharged, came home and 
died, and was buried in the cemetery at Des Moines, A 
good soldier. 

JOSEPH H. MOON, 

Age, eighteen ; enlisted from the 4th ward, Des Moities, 
Jan. 20, 1864 ; a recruit, for three years ; native of Ohio ; 
killed Nov. 24, 1864, at Linnville, Tenn., in battle. 

GUSTAVUS WASHBURN 

Was born in Montpelier, Vt., Oct. 11, 1824, and emigrated 
to Des Moines with his family in the year 1856, where he was 
living when the war began. He enlisted Aug. 2, 1861, in 
Company D, Second Iowa Cavalry, and was commissioned 
first lieutenant of the company, Aug. 80, 1861. He 
served in the company until July 27th, 1863, when failing 
health compelled him to resign. He returned to Des 
Moines and entered upon his work as a master painter. 
He was very skillful in his profession, and successful. He 
seemed to have completely regained his health, when he 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA CAVALRY VOLS. 407 

was suddenly seized with cholera morbus (thought by some 
to have been really Asiatic cholera), and after suffering a 
few days expired, Oct. 29, 18G7. The " Iowa State Regis- 
ter," in announcing the sad tidings of his death, says : — 

" A brave and efficient officer, an estimable citizen, a true 
friend, a kind husband and parent, he left us in the midst 
of his usefulness, universally regretted." 

The following particular and interesting account of the 
last days of Lieutenant Washburn's life was kindly written 
and furnished for this book, at my request, by the Rev. H. 
S. De Forest, who remained constantly at the bedside of 
Lieutenant Washburn in his last illness, and was the min- 
ister who officiated at the fimeral. 

" He died Sabbath evening, October 29, 1867, and it was 
on the preceding Sabbath morning that he was taken sick. 
He was very sick from the first. He was athletic, muscu- 
lar, and uncommonly energetic. He seemed in^thevery 
plenitude and perfection of his strength, when he was most 
violently attacked with the cholera morbus. The attack 
almost rivaled the Asiatic cholera in its rapidity and its 
power. The forces of disease were like a marshaled foe, 
making a most furious onset, but making it on a mighty 
fortress. The conflict was severe. Every step was con- 
tested, and Death fought his way inch by inch into the very 
citadel of life. 

" From the first there were grave apprehensions of the 
result. I think he was as quick as his friends to discover 
his danger, and that he was busy and active in preparation 
long before any felt constrained to ask him for his last 
wishes and instructions. Hence it was, that in the few 
hours preceding the violence of the dying struggle, which 
was long and terribly severe, he was able, not only to give 



408 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

full and complete directions concerning his business, but 
also to speak well-considered words to his family, and his 
friends. It was Saturday, I believe, and while a friend, at 
his request, was engaged in prayer, that it was discovered 
to the sick man, even then wrestling like a giant with dis- 
ease, that there was no hope of his recovery, and that death 
was near. This announcement was not made too soon. 
There were only a few hours before suffering and delirium 
made conversation and thought alike impossible. But 
those hours, as said before, were well improved. Business 
and business acquaintances received their due attention. 
Words of counsel, of comfort and admonition, too, were 
spoken with the last farewells. Nor while remembering 
his own family, as father and husband only could, did he 
forget the young men who were living in the family. His 
concern for their highest and eternal good was very note- 
worthy. But those last words, and those good-by scenes 
are not for the public. The bedside circle, the prayer, 
and the hymn ; the return of a daughter from school in 
another State ; the parting from family, in which an infant 
child seemed to have most power at the heart-strings ; the 
whisperings from the Holy of Holies of the human soul ; 
the desires which God and loved ones only know, must be 
kept vailed in the sacred privacy where they belong, to 
which they are so dear. The many know his manly vir- 
tues, exhibited in a very active life. They mourn him as 
a companion gone, and wreathe a chaplet of flowers in his 
memory." 

A beautiful marble monument has been erected to his 
memory by Mrs. Washburn — one of the handsomest and 
most costly monuments in the cemetery at Des Moines. 
It is a masonic column surmounted by a globe. The flag 
of his country is represented as wrapped about the column, 
upon which hangs a sheathed sword. Entwined about the 



COMPANY D, SECOND IOWA CAVALRY VOLS. 409 

column, also, is represented a floral garland. This is the 
inscription ; — 

" LIEUTENANT G. WASHBURN, 
Died 

October 27, 1867, 

Aged 43 years, and 17 days. 

Member Company D, Second Iowa Cavalry." 

Upon the base is inscribed : — 

•'WASHBURN." 



9 



COMPANY F, THIRD IOWA CAVALRY. 

SCOTT THRAILKILL. 

Scott was very young, only fifteen, when he enlisted ; 
born in Walnut Township, Polk County, Iowa, March 26, 
1848. He, with a companion, left a spelling-school one 
night, and enlisted without the consent of parents ; but his 
mother says it is the only time in his life he ever disobeyed, 
for he was a Christian ; had joined the Methodist Church 
several years before, and tried to live up to his profession. 
His parents were religious. His father, Jacob Thrailkill, 
one of the first settlers of Polk County, was a Methodist 
class-leader ; a pious man. He went in 1849 to California, 
where he remained about a year, but on his return home, 
he was lost on the Gulf of Mexico, it is supjDosed. His 
wife never heard o^him after he left San Francisco on ship- 
board ; only a rumor that he died on the gulf on board a 
Spanish vessel, and was thrown into the sea. 

Scott was trained up in the good and right way, by a 
Christian mother and pious step-father, Mr. Crawford of 
Madison Township. He wrote to his mother while he was 
in Camp McClellan : — 

" I am hardly out of hearing of an oath at any time ; but 
I have not been led to utter one yet. I don't forget my 
promise. I have had but one card in my hand yet, and 
that was to throw it out of my bunk to-day." His mother 
says he never uttered an oath in his life. 

While at Memphis he wrote : " Well, mother, I have 
not forgot to read my Testament yet, and I try to keep out 



COMPANY F, THIRD IOWA CAVALRY VOLS. 411 

of all bad company." To contemplate this boy of fifteen 
away from the restraints of home, thus "' remembering the 
law of his mother," must encourage mothers in bringing 
up their children in the fear of God. 

He was patriotic : " Mother, you say D is married. 

You may tell him that I say he is a coward. Uncle Sam 
needs him more than any woman does. I am in good 
heart ; like to be called one of Uncle Sam's boys." 

It was a great mistake of recruiting officers in taking 
boys of his age. He was a noble-looking boy, weighed one 
hundred and forty. He took sick at Davenport. His 
mother brought him home ; would have secured his dis- 
charge, but " No," he said, " I enlisted to fight for my coun- 
try, and will do it." He recovered partially from his sick- 
ness, and went to the front ; was in Memphis when Forrest 
made his dash into the city. " We followed the Rebels," 
says he, " about twenty miles, but we had to come back to 
protect Mem|)his." 

His regiment — the Third Iowa Cavalry — started on a 
raid into Arkansas. Scott went along. A soldier writes, — 

" We started on the Missouri and Arkansas raid on the 
2d of September. Scott, of course, went along. The cap- 
tain told him that he had better stay in camp, as he was not 
stout enough to stand the hardships. But he would go and 
stood it well until he came to Brownsville, Ark. He would 
not go back with the sick, for he thought he would soon 
set well on the march. I never heard him use anv bad 
language ; he always did his duty well. He died on the 
march in an ambulance." 

Lieutenant W. A. Wright says : — 

" Scott Thrailkill died and was decently buried, with cof- 
fin, in the grave-yard at Otter Creek, Mo., near Poplar 
Bluff, in an apple orchard." 



412 AMERICAN PATKIOTISM. 

Another writes : — 

" There is no doubt but he was prepared to die. He 
was a very good boy." 

He was industrious and ingenious. His mother showed 
me a very curious little box made by him, which she keeps 
as a memento. She has also a lock of his hair, and a little 
flute — a toy he had when a babe. He loved his book ; was 
studious. 

Thouo-h this account is of an humble bov, whose life 
was the life of a child, it must be interesting to the 
thoughtful. Here was cut down, as thousands have been 
in the late war, a boy, who, I have no doubt, had he lived, 
would have become a law-abiding, religious, industrious, 
citizen — one of the staid men of society — a man not to 
be bought with a price. War, like a killing frost, " nips i' 
the bud " the flower of the land. 



COMPANY F, FOURTH IOWA CAVALRY. 

RICHARD ASHWORTH 

Enlisted November 11, 1861, and had been out with his 
company on detached service, scouting through Missouri 
nearly a year, when the company joined Curtis's army at 
Batesville, Arkansas, and proceeded to Helena. Ashworth 
was sick on the march to Helena ; from Helena he was 
sent home on sick leave, where he remained until the ex- 
piration of his furlough — sixty days — when he reported 
at Keokuk, greatly improved in health, but not yet well 
enough to endure soldiering. At Helena, on his arrival, 
the physicians made out his papers preliminary to a dis- 
charge, and he was sent to hospital at St. Louis ; but before 
he received his discharge from the army, he died, July 19, 
1865. Born in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, Aug. 16, 
1838; came with his father's family to America, in 1848 ; 
remained in New England until 1851, when he came with 
his parents to "Walnut Township, Polk County, Iowa, where 
his father, Mr. Richard Ashworth, now resides, a respected 
citizen. Ashworth was a brave soldier, and a wortliy, hon- 
orable man. 



COMPANY M, FOURTH IOWA CAVALRY. 

JOHN Q. JEWETT 

Died in hospital at Camp McClellan, Davenport ; an ex- 
cellent young man. I speak of him knowingly ; for he 
made his home with my family, and was a pupil in my 
school for a considerable time. When he enlisted he was 
teaching school in Bloomfield Township, Polk County, 
Iowa. 

" Bloomfield Township, Dec. 29, 1863. 

" Dear Mother, — I am well, and getting along well 

with my school. Perhaps you have heard by JMr. , 

that I was intending to enlist. If you have, it was all true. 
Yet I have not enlisted. It was not because I did not 
want to ; but because they would not have me. I did not 
pass examination. It was not on account of my lameness, 
but other debility that I knew nothing of; they never no- 
ticed my lameness. If I had enlisted, I would h^^ve gone 
into a battery ; but as they did not accept me, I suppose 
you will be glad. Perhaps it is for the best. I went into 
town last Thursday night after school. Spent most of the 
next day at the different recruiting offices, and that is the 
way I spent Christmas." 

" Des Moixes, March 2, 1864. 
" Dear Mother, — I came to town last Saturday ; 
stopped over riight. Sunday 1 learned that Mr. 's 



COMPANY M, FOURTH IOWA CAVALRY VOLS. 415 

boys were sick with the lung fever ; concluded to sit up 
with them that night. About eight o'clock Mr. Finley, the 
surgeon, came down to see the boys. Just as he was leaving 
I said to him, ' You had better let me go along with these 
boys to take care of them.' He looked at me a moment, 
and then said, ' Come up to my office to-morrow evening, 
and I will let you know.' This gave me encouragement ; 
so I did not go out to my school Monday. About four 
o'clock I went up to see the surgeon, and he gave me a 
pass. Then I ' done went and enlisted ' on the 29th day 
of February, 1864. The next day (Tuesday), I went out 
to see how my school was getting along. My scholars came 
there the day before ; climbed into the school-house at the 
windows, and stayed there till about noon, then adjourned 
and went home. But five or six came back the next day. 
I dismissed them, and sent them home, made out my re- 
port, and Mr. Lyman, the director, said he would hand it 
to the secretary. 

" I tried my best to get* a furlough to come home to 
see you all before leaving, but could not. I would have 
been happy to remain at home this summer, but thought it 
my duty to enlist. Now, mother, I don't want you to worry 
about me, for I shall take care of myself as well as I know 

how. Sickness is the most that I dread. Mrs. says 

she wishes she had a son old enough to enlist. She thinks 
it quite an honor." 

" Camp McClellan, Davenport, March 8, 1864. 

" I am well. We left Grinnell at three o'clock p. m., yes- 
terday ; arrived at Iowa City at six p. m., and Davenport at 
eight p. M. ; marched to Camp McClellan, a distance of 
two miles, where our quarters were assigned to us. Our 
bed was the soft side of a pine board. Our supper con- 
sisted of white bread, molasses, and coifee ; our breakfast, 
cold pork and beans, white bread, and coffee." 



416 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

His sister, Miss Delia B. Jewett, furnishes the following 
interesting account of his life : — 

" He was born November 23, 1845, in the town of Whit- 
field, Lincoln County, State of Maine. He was a very af- 
fectionate, obedient boy ; quick to learn, and possessing a 
good memory. In the spring of 1858, he came TTest. 
When the war first commenced he was young, and, owing 
to his lameness, unable to go into the service ; but took a 
great interest in reading the war news. While attending 
school he often wrote that he was getting along with his 
studies well, and liked the school. While teachins. he 
wrote in a letter to Oliver, my younger brother, ' I hope 
you are getting along well in your studies this winter. You 
must try and learn all you can. I expect I shall be at 
home next summer, but cannot tell for certain yet. Do 
you think you could get along without me ? ' In most of 
his letters he wrote as though he wanted to go into the ser- 
vice, and should, if they would accept him. In a letter to 
me, dated January 4th, he wrote about his trying to en- 
list ; but says, ' They would not have me. On my way 
back to school Sunday night, I met the recruits from Adair 
County. Among them were two boys I was acquainted 
with. They were about my age. It made me want to go. 
My mind is so taken up with the war that T cannot write.' 
He was taken sick March 9th ; continuing to grow worse, he 
went to the hospital March 11th. He had his right mind, 
but thought he would not get well. He died March 16th ; 
was perfectly reconciled to his death. It was his duty, he 
said, to go to war, and if he died he should die in a good 
cause. His day book showed that he was on duty once 
after arriving at Davenport." 

I will remark that though on duty but once, bis life 
given in defense of his country weighed as much as that 
of any other, and as an offering on the altar it v\'ent up a 



COMPANY M, FOURTH IOWA CAVALRY VOLS. 417 

necessary sacrifice for the liberties we now enjoy. May the 
youth of our land be ever as ready to go forth in defense 
ot their country as he ! 

His death resulted from a cold, contracted in the bar- 
racks at Davenport, and riding on the outside of a coach, 
on tlie way to rendezvous. 



27 



FIFTH IOWA CAVALRY. 

J. M. KEELIN, 

Surgeon of the Fifth Iowa Cavalry, was commissioned 
Sept. 17, 1862, but never mustered in. He was taken sick 
and died shortly after receiving his commission. A very 
useful citizen and good man ; he left many warm friends. 
A practicing physician of Rising Sun, Polk County, where 
he had resided several years. I am sorry that I have not 
more facts in reference to his history. The notes, which 
I had with much pains procured, were accidentally de- 
stroyed, and it is impossible for me now to replace them. 
Mrs. Kerlin, a very intelligent and amiable woman, is now 
a resident of Washington city, D. C. ; daughter of Mr. 
Robinson, of Madison Township, an old resident, and 
wealthy and influential citizen of Polk County. 



COMPANY E, SEVENTH IOWA CAVALRY. 

JACOB KESLER 

Enlisted in Company E, Fourth Iowa Infantry, July 15, 
1861 ; was discharged Nov. 28, 1862, at Rolla, Mo., for dis- 
ability ; enlisted in Company K, Seventeenth Iowa Infantry 
Feb. 26, 1862, and was promoted to corporal ; discharged 
for disability, at Corinth, Oct. 13, 1862 ; enlisted in Company 
E, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, Feb. 21, 1863, and died at Daven- 
port, Aug. 1, 1864, of disease of lungs. Born in Tiffin, Sen- 
eca County, Ohio, March 17, 1838. His father, William 
H. Kesler, was for eleven years Recorder of Seneca 
County ; after coming to Iowa, Mr. Kesler died. Jacob 
and three of his brothers were soldiers in the Union army. 
Jacob requested to be buried, when dead, wrapped in the 
flag of his country. His patriotism was fully evinced by 
his enlisting three times, and finally yielding up his life 
willingly in the service. Mrs. Atmore, his mother, is very 
grateful to Adjutant- General N. B. Baker, for kindness 
shown her son while sick in hospital at Davenport. 



COMPANY M, EIGHTH IOWA CAVALRY, 

Was enrolled in the county of Polk ; ordered into quar- 
ters by the governor of the State, July 30, 1863, and 
mustered into the United States service, at Davenport, 
Sept. 30, 1863. 

The regiment proceeded to Nashville, and was then sta- 
tioned in West Tennessee, where it remained, chasing guer- 
rillas and protecting the citizens. It captured, during the 
winter, about 500 rej^el prisoners, and administered the oath 
of allegiance to 1,000 deserters from the rebel army. It 
made frequent raids into distant parts of the State. In 
INIarch, 1864, it made preparation, at Nashville, to enter 
upon the campaign against Atlanta ; in this campaign it 
fought many hard battles, made many desperate charges, 
and lost many brave men. Its colonel (Colonel Dorr) 
and a large part of the regiment were taken prisoners in 
Mc Cook's disastrous raid to the rear of Atlanta, July 29, 
1864. 

The regiment took an active part in the defense of Nash- 
ville, in the winter of 1864-5, helping materially towards 
defeating Hood. It accompanied General Wilson in his 
brilliant raid through Alabama and Georgia ; capturing by 
a daring march the city of Tuscaloosa. It performed one 
of the most hazardous and difficult marches on record, 
crossing the Sipsey, North, Black Water, Black Warrior, 
Coosa, Chattahoochie, and other streams, swollen by recent 
rains until there was no way left but to swim them with the 
horses, the saddles, etc., being ferried over in canoes, flats, 
and sugar troughs. Many of the men were drowned in this 
march. 



COMPANY M, EIGHTH IOWA CAVALRY VOLS. 421 

The regiment was mustered out at Macon, Ga., Aug. 13, 
1865. Of the commissioned officers of this company, 
Captain William H. Hoxie, Captain Henry Moreland, and 
Lieutenant Eli Keeler were citizens of Polk County. The 
dead of this company belonging to Polk County are as fol- 
lows : — 

ORRm MITCHELL. 
To do justice to the memory of this promising young 
man is impossible in so brief an article. Whatever good 
may be said of any may be truthfully said of him. Tall 
and of manly appearance ; studious in his habits, and am- 
bitious ; he had lived since he was a child on the frontier, 
and had taken into his mind ideas as vast as the boundless 
prairies, and into his heart patriotism as irresistible as the 
mighty rivers of our loved land. He looked forward to a 
career of honor and usefulness in life ; but he could not 
content himself at study when the youth of the land were 
arming and going forth to battle for the flag of their 
country. He enlisted June 1, 1863 ; went into camp at 
Davenport, about the 1st of September ; on the 6th 
he writes : — 

" The boys are all well and feeling good. They have 
all got their new clothes. They make a fine appearance 
on dress parade. Everything is life and stir here now." 

He had served against the Indians in 1861, in a volun- 
teer company of mounted men. On his return from this 
expedition, which lasted three months, he became a student 
in the private school taught by the author of these me- 
moirs. He studied algebra, geometry, and surveying, and 
made some progress in Latin. But his thoughts were on 
the war, and he was not satisfied until he found himself a 
soldier, sworn to give, if need be, his life in his country's 
defense against treason and rebellion. While in the ren- 



422 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

dezvous at Davenport, he was api)ointed quartermaster- 
sergeant of the regiment. He always acquitted himself 
well in this position. He says : — 

" My officers think well of me, and give me praise to the 
other officers — so I am told." 

His regiment went first to Louisville, Ky. 

" Camp Robekts, Oct. 13, 1863. 

" All is hurry and bustle here to-day. We leave here 
Saturday morning at ten o'clock — destination Louisville." 

" Louisville, Oct. 25. 

" We are now camped near the above named place, in 
an open field, in small shelter tents, and are waiting to get 
our horses shod. Though to-day is Sunday, the smiths 
are shoeing them as fast as possible. The boys are all 
well that went from our place, and feeling good because 
they are going South." 

" MuMFORDSViLLE, Nov. 10, 1863. 

" We have been moving nearly all the time since we 
left Davenport ; are laying over to-day at this place, 
resting. We will soon be at Chattanooga. We have 
passed over three or four battle-grounds in the last day or 
two. We are now camped near one fought over by Buell 
and Bragg." 

"Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 25. 

" We are camped near James K. Polk's old residence. 
It is a nice place, and only twelve miles from Andrew 
Jackson's old farm, known as the ' Hermitage.' " 

"Near Reynoldsville, Tenn., Dec. 7. 
" We are now seventy-five miles from Nashville, on the 
Tennessee River, at the crossing of the railroad that is 
being built from Memphis to Nashville. We may be kept 



• COMPANY M, EIGHTH IOWA CAVALRY VOLS. 423 

here all winter. Guerrillas are plenty in this part ; we 
capture every day from ten to thirty. We are camped in 
heavy timber, a little over one mile from the river, in one 
of the poorest countries the sun ever shone on. It is 
about thirty-five miles from Fort Henry, and forty from 
Donelson, up the river. The darkies know more than the 
white people through this country, We find white people 
who have been raised here that don't know North from 
South — nor do they know what county they live in — 
and some are not certain what State." 

" Waverly, Tenn., Dec. 19. 

" We took ten guerrillas night before last ; and when 
bringing them into camp a tree blew down (for it was 
rainy and blowing) and fell upon one of the prisoners, 
who proved to be a captain of one of their bands — killing 
him and his horse." 

" Waverly, Jan. 18, 1864. 

" You asked what kind of a time I had Christmas. 
I had a pretty rough time. I started on a scout about 
nine o'clock in the evening and never suffered more with 
cold than I did that night. It rained a good part of the 
night and the next day, and we had no blankets along. 
I got warmed up in the morning for a little while. We 
were in pursuit of some guerrillas, and in the chase I 
forgot all about the cold. They fired several shots. We 
kept on after them until they escaped across the river." 

" Waverly, Jan. 23, 1864. 
"Four of us rode forty-two miles in seven hours. We 
were bearing messages to one of the other battalions 
through the enemy's country. The roads were muddy, and 
the mud deep." 

I " Waverly, Jan. 26, 1864. 

" Many are the changes of war, and it is hard telling 
what will be done before the war is over. There is but 



424 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

One who with his far-seeing eye can tell the final result of 
this struggle, which has been the cause of so many widows, 
and orphans, and heart-broken mothers." 

" Waverly, Feb. 3, 1864. 
" I am well. I have not been sick since I came into the 
service, enough to go to bed. I am very hearty now." 

" Waverly, Tenn., March 7, 1864. 

"Thomas Mitchell, Esq., — About two weeks ago, 

your son Orrin was taken with what proved to be typhoid 

fever. He has gradually sunk till yesterday, when he 

seemed to revive a little, which gave us a faint hope of 

his ultimate recovery. But to tell the truth, my dear 

sir, I very much doubt whether he will ever be restored to 

health. 

» H. H. BUFIELD, 
Lieutenant Eighth Iowa Cavalry.^* 

" Wavekly, March 17, 1864. 
" It has now become my painful duty to inform you of 
his death, which took place at three p. m., to-day. Orrin 
was a favorite in the regiment ; held in highest esteem by 
all who knew him. 

" H. H. B.»' 

He was a dutiful son, a diligent student, a kind brother, 
a true friend, and a brave soldier. His father, Thomas 
Mitchell, Esq., is one of the most prominent and influen- 
tial men of Polk County, and has resided here ever since 
it was organized as a county. Orrin is buried in the 
grave-yard at Mitchellville. 

CORPORAL THOMAS M. CLELLAND, 

A VERY civil, brave, and good boy, was wounded at Cass- 
ville, Ga., May 9, 1864, and died of wounds at same place, 
May 24th. His comrades say that he was a good soldier. 
" Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon him." Age, 



COMPANY M, EIGHTH IOWA CAVALRY VOLS. 425 

twenty-two ; residence, Des Moines (according to the Adju- 
tant-General's Reports) ; native of Ohio ; enlisted July 5, 
1863. 

JAMES H. HORTON 
Was killed May 9, 1864, at Cassville, Ga., in action ; age, 
twenty-one ; residence, Des Moines ; native of Indiana. 
" A brave man," says Lieutenant Keeler ; " one of the truest 
of men." " He told his comrades before entering this en- 
gagement, that he would never come out of it alive." 

FRANCIS BRADLEY 
Was accredited to Des Mbines, Polk County ; wagoner ; 
died of disease, September 21, 1864, at Kingston, Ga. 
Age, thirty; enlisted Aug. 10, 1863 ; native of Lidiana ; a 
good soldier. 

THOMAS HILTON McCALL 
Was born in Polk County, Iowa, July 28, 1847 ; enlisted 
July 15, 1863, aged sixteen ; a boy in years, a man in every 
other respect. " I lay last night," he says in one of his let- 
ters, " in water about three inches deep. This is nothing 
for a soldier ; I do not mind it at all." Again, while cross- 
ing the Cumberland Mountains, " We have to lead our 
horses ; have little to eat. I would not mind this so much 
for myself if my horse could but be fed." Feb. 22, 1864, 
he says : " I would like to be at home to go to school ; but 
I would rather be where I am until the Rebellion is put 
down ; then I will be willing to go home, and go satisfied." 
May 15, 1864, he was captured by the enemy at Tilton, 
Ga., and died in prison at Anderson ville, Ga., March 12, 
1865. He was a professor of religion ; a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. His comrades say he lived 
up to his profession while in the service. His father, Mont- 
gomery McCall, has resided in Polk County since the year 
1845. He lives in Camp Township, a most respected citi- 



426 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

zen. Thomas H. McCall was a nephew of the Honorable 
Thomas McCall of Story County. 

JOHN B. HUZHART, 
Accredited to Des Moines, Polk County, enlisted July 
15, 1863 ; age, twenty-one ; native of Kentucky ; died at 
Louisville, Ky., March 17, 1865, of small-pox. A good 
man on duty ; was sick a great deal. His brother, Young 
A. Huzhart, served in the same company through the war ; 
a brave man ; " deserving " says Lieutenant Keeler, " es- 
pecial mention." 

MOSES KROWZER 
Was accredited to Des Moines, Polk County ; age, 
twenty-one ; native of Ohio; enlisted July 1, 1863 ; killed 
April 15, 1865, at Macon, Ga., in action. 

Moses Krowzer is spoken of by his comrades as a brave 
soldier. He died in the midst of battle at his place, facing 
the enemy. He was once a pupil of mine, and I feel sad 
when I make this record of his young life cut short. 
Moses was an intelligent, sprightly boy. He made his 
home with Mr. L. T. Fowler, of Elkhart Township, his 
brother-in-law. Moses had been a resident of Iowa since 
he was a child. Came with his parents to Ballard's Grove, 
in Story County, in an early day. I had many other facts 
in reference to him, which I have unfortunately lost. 

WILLIAM W. DERICKSON. 
In McCook's disastrous raid to the rear of Atlanta, 
among many others, Derickson was captured, August 22, 
1864, and breathed out his life in a rebel prison, February 
20, 1865. Born in Wells County, 111., February 27, 1842, he 
had lived with his parents in Polk City since 1850. He en- 
listed in Company C, Twenty- third Iowa Infantry, August 
8, 1862 ; discharged for disability, Dec. 1, 1862 ; enlisted in 
Company M, Eighth Iowa Cavalry, July 20, 1863. He 



COMPANY M, EIGHTH IOWA CAVALRY VOLS. 42T 

was possessed of the noblest qualities of mind, fondly 
loving his parents, home, and country ; brave, and deter- 
mined ; hopeful, and of good morals. " I will try to do 
my part, and not flinch in battle," he says in one of his 
letters. He writes : — 

" Camp in the Field, Georgia, ) 
June 7, 1864. J 

" I have been in three sabre charges. We fouoht hard 

twelve days running. Our company started out on the 1st 

of May with eighty men ; now it has twenty-five." 

" Camp at Lost Mountain, June 30, 1864. 
We are still fighting ; are within twenty miles of At- 
lanta ; have the Rebels surrounded. We expect to spend 
the Fourth in Atlanta." 



COMPANY H, NINTH IOWA CAVALRY. 

JAMES 0. SALISBURY 

Enlisted at Des Moines, Sept. 23, 1863 ; died on Plague 
Island, St. Louis, Mo., of small-pox, Feb. 15, 1864. Was 
born March 17, 1843 ; a native of Indiana ; was a professor 
of religion ; a member of the M. E. Church, East Des 
Moines, where he had lived for a long time, employed in 
Messrs. Jordan and Shepherd's woollen foctory. He was a 
man of good character, and brother-in-law of Mr. Mc Broom 
of Delaware Township, Polk County, Iowa. 



FIRST IOWA BATTERY. 

The First Iowa Battery Volunteers commanded by Cap- 
tain Henry H. Griffiths, was called into service of the 
United States on the 17th day of August, 1861, to serve 
for the term of three years from the date of enrollment, 
unless sooner discharged. The battery was organized by 
Captain C. H. Fletcher, and left Burlington, Iowa, under 
Captain Fletcher, in December, 1861 ; arrived at St. Louis, 
Missouri ; received its armament and equipment of four 
six-pounder bronze guns, and two twelve-pounder field 
howitzers. Captain Fletcher left the battery. It soon after 
went to Rolla, Missouri, and formed part of the army 
under General Curtiss ; fought at Pea Ridge, March 7th 
and 8th ; did good service. Captain Henry H. Griffiths, 
Captain of Company E, Fourth Iowa Infantry, was trans- 
ferred to First Iowa Battery, by order of 'Governor Kirk- 
wood, May 15, 1862. Battery reached Helena, Arkansas, 
via Batesville, July 14, 1862 ; formed part of General 
Steele's division which left Helena, December 22, 1862 ; 
fought at Chickasaw Bayou, and Arkansas Post ; did well, 
and was honorably mentioned. Left Milliken's Bend, La., 
April 13, 1863 ; ran the blockade at Grand Gulf, April 
29th, and fired the first shot of the Vicksburg campaign at 
Port Gibson, May 1st, at one o'clock, a. m. ; took prominent 
part in that action ; was complimented by Generals Carr 
and McClernand, commanding 13th Army Corps; ordered 
back to General Steele's division ; helped capture Jackson, 
Miss., May, 1863 ; fired the first shot in front of the rebel 
lines at Vicksburg, Miss., May 18th. Continued through 



430 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

the siege, firing 1300 rounds to each gun. Marched for 
Jackson, July oth at daylight ; participated in the second 
capture of that place ; pursued the enemy to Brandon, 
Miss., and returned to Black River Bridge, July 28, 1863. 
Left there September 22, via Vicksburg, Memphis, and 
Corinth, for Chattanooga, Tenn. ; fought Forrest's rebel 
cavalry five days while on the way from luka to Tuscumbia, 
Alabama. Opened fire on Lookout Mountain, November 
24th ; crossed the mountain through " much tribulation," 
and fought at Missionary Ridge, November 25th, and re- 
turned to Woodville, Alabama, January 1, 1864, going into 
winter quarters. Received 93 recruits for the battery in 
January and February, 1864, and marched in the 4th divis- 
ion, 15th Army Corps, for Atlanta, Georgia, on the 1st of 
May ; fought at Resaca, May loth ; at Dallas, May 28th ; 
also at New Hope Church, June 1st; also at Kenesaw 
Mountain, June and July, 1864. Reached the rebel lines 
near Atlanta, July 20th, and had desperate fighting on the 
20th, 21st, and 22d; lost heavily, but were victorious; 
moved to our extreme right, and were attacked on 28th 
of July, and after hard fighting repulsed the Rebels ; ad- 
vanced upon them till August 11th, 1864, when the battery 
was ordered honfe to be mustered out of the service. The 
campaign was a hard and trying one ; reached Davenport, 
Iowa, August 16th, and was mustered out on the 18th. 
Through all the battles participated in, the battery never 
lost a single article by capture, though sometimes hard 
pressed. It was always on the side of victory ; helping 
greatly in many hard contested battles. The battery was 
complimented by every brigade, diAasion, army corps, and 
army commander that it ever served under. 

Captain H. H. Griffiths, a citizen of Des Moines, and at 
present Clerk of the District Court of Polk County, de- 
serves mention as having been one of the bravest and best 
officers Iowa ever sent into the field. The following are 
the names of the members of his battery from Polk Coun- 



FIRST IOWA BATTERY. 431 

ty who died in the service, though the battery lost during 
the entire campaign by sickness and wounds, sixty-two 
men. 

WILLIAM SELDON 

Enlisted from Rising Sun, Polk County, Iowa, Aug. 17, 

1861, as a private, aged twenty-eight. He was wounded in 
the battle of Pea Ridge, Ark., in both ankles, March 7, 

1862, and died April 4, 1862, of wounds. He was a well 
educated man, and a good soldier. 

GEORGE HOWAED, 

Age, twenty-three ; residence, Madison Township, Polk 
County; native of Indiana; private; enlisted Jan. 5, 1864. 
Died Feb. 27, 1864, at Woodville, Ala., of disease. Said to 
have been a stage-driver — and quite rough in his ways • 
professed religion before he died, and passed away express- 
ing a reliance upon the Saviour. He did his duty promptly 
as a soldier. 

WILLIAM H. CALLENDER, 
Age, forty-four ; residence, Des Moines, where he had lived 
for several years, and was sexton of the grave-yard. He 
and his son John D. Callender, enlisted in the same com- 
pany—John D., Dec. 23, 1863, and the father, Wm. H., 
Jan. 4, 1864. Died July 10, 1864, at Chattanooga, Tenn., 
of disease. " Left in charge of company property," — says 
Captain H. H. Griffiths. " He was over age ; always did 
his duty promptly ; but was never in battle." He was born 
in Ohio. 

WILLIAM McMICHAEL. 
Says Captain Griffiths, — " An Irishman ; a good nurse 
with the sick ; nursed Henry Coffi^en during a long illness 
at Woodville, Ala., in March, 1864 ; a driver ; killed at At- 
lanta, Ga., July 20, 1864, in the afternoon while sitting 
on his horse. His head was shot nearly away by a shell. 



432 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

He was a sober, steady man, and never failed or flinched." 
Age, forty-four ; residence, Lee Township, Polk County ; 
enlisted Dec. 23, 1863. He owned some property in East 
Des Moines ; had no relatives living here but a sister. 

HERMAN T. MYERHOFF. 

Captain Griffiths says : " A young boy ; a good driver ; 
faithful to his team ; died of disease. My recollection is 
that he was a faithful, truthful, trustworthy boy." Age, 
nineteen ; German by birth ; private ; enlisted Dec. 29, 
1863; died Aug. 18, 1864, at Marietta, Ga., of disease. 
He used to be a clerk in a store on Second Street, in Des 
Moines, before he enlisted. He had lived in Polk County 
thirteen years previous to the war. A member of the 
Baptist Church ; he was a devoted Christian. " He was just 
as good a soldier," says a comrade of his (Franklin Fox), 
" as ever went into the army." His parents, brothers, and 
sisters, live on Keokuk Prairie, southeast of Des Moines. 

JOHN JOHNSON 

Enlisted from Second Ward, Des Moines, Iowa. Age, 
twenty-five ; a native of Pennsylvania ; private ; enlisted 
Jan. 4, 1864 ; died Aug. 18, 1864, at Rome, Ga., of disease. 
Was a hack-driver before the war ; was in no engagements. 
Just as the battery was starting on the Atlanta campaign, 
Johnson was sent to hospital. 

JOHN D. CALLENDER, 

Says Captain Griffiths, — " Was a good boy ; deserved well, 
and was honored by all. He was in all the battles of the 
Atlanta campaign ; killed by a musket shot, Aug. 23d, 
1864, at East Point, six miles below Atlanta, Ga." En- 
listed from Second Ward, Des Moines, Iowa, Dec. 23, 
1863 ; a private ; age, eighteen ; native of Ohio ; a steady 
man ; would have been promoted for gallantry if he had 
lived. 



FIRST IOWA BATTERY. 433 

ROBERT F. REEDER, 

Age, eighteen ; residence, Bloomfield Township, Polk 
County ; native of Indiana ; private ; enlisted March 21, 
1864, for three years; died Jan. 22d, 1865, at Jefferson- 
ville, Ind., of disease. 

LIEUTENANT SELAH M. TITUS. 

" A GOOD man," says Captain H. H. Griffiths. " At the 
struggle on the 28th of May, 1864, at Dallas, Ga., he was 
called on to surrender by a Rebel, who shot an infantry 
man of the 6th Iowa by his side. Titus seized the musket 
of the wounded man as it fell from his hands and 
shot the Rebel dead, and then made his escape. Was 
complimented by the battery commander at retreat, that 
evening, for this gallant act. Was promoted to lieutenant 
in October, 1864, and died of disease soon after leaving the 
service." 

He died July 22d, 1865, at the house of Mr. McClung, 
his uncle, in Cory's Grove, and is buried at Ottawa, Polk 
County. Age, twenty-two ; native of McHenry County, 
111. ; enlisted Jan. 2, 1864. He had been a resident of 
Polk County only a few months when he enlisted. 

Note. — I omitted to say, in the proper place, that many of the original 
members of the First Iowa Battery reenlisted as veterans, and that the 
battery remained in the service, and was designated The First Iowa Veteran 
Battery, and placed in the department under Thomas after the fall of 
Atlanta. It took prominent part in the defense of Nashville against Hood, 
and was finally disbanded at Davenport, Iowa, July 5, 1865. 

28 



SECOND IOWA BATTERY. 

KOMULUS BUTTOLPH, 

Age, twenty-one ; residence, Des Moines, Polk County ; 
native of Ohio ; private ; went into quarters Aug. 1, 1861 ; 
mustered into United States service Aug. 8, 1861 ; died of 
measles, at St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 9, 1861. Lived before the 
war at Mr. Madden's, in Four Mile Township ; a good 
boy. 

JOHN JONES, 

Age, twenty-three ; residence, Franklin Township, Polk 
County ; native of Indiana ; enlisted in United States ser- 
vice Feb. 14, 1864, for three years ; died April 17, 1864, 
at Davenport, of disease. 

JOHN KUNTZ, 

Resident of Valley Township, Polk County, enlisted Sept. 
5, 1864 ; native of Indiana ; age, twenty-one. " The 
strongest man in the battery," says a comrade (Wilson 
Campbell) ; " he killed himself lifting. To show his 
strength, he took hold of the wheel attached to one of the 
brass cannons, lifting the wheel three times at least four 
inches from the ground, raising the gun. He said, ' Boys, 
I have hurt myself.' He died a few days afterwards at 
Selma, Ala., July 7, 1865. He was a good man ; highly 
respected by his comrades. He has friends living in the 
county, and an aged mother. He had been a resident of 
Polk County about seven years." 



SECOND IOWA BATTERY. 435 



PETER H. LEE 

Was born in Cass County, Michigan, April 14, 1843 ; died 
in Overton Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., March 22, 1865, of 
disease ; had resided in Beaver Township, Polk County, 
Iowa, eleven years. Though reared a Quaker, he felt it to 
be his duty to shoulder his musket in defense of his im- 
periled country. He said to his mother before he left 
home : " Mother, there is not money enough in Polk 
County to hire me to go into the army ; but I shall go for 
the country. He says, writing from Memphis, Tenn., June 
9, 1864 : — 



" Mother, it is true I would like to see you all once 
more ; but if I were to go home 1 would not stay there. 
Money would not hire me to stay out of the army. It is 
not because I don't like my home ; for I think as much of 
my home as any one. It is because I think it my duty to 
be here." 

Feb. 12, 1865, he writes from Memphis: — 

" Our battery passed here yesterday, going down the 
river. I wish I were able to go with them. I would rather 
do so, if I were able, than to go home, not saying that I 
do not love my home, for I do love it. There is not a day 
passes but I think of home." 

" Memphis, March 31, 1864. 

" It is no use to talk about seeing you until the end of 
the war. I am a soldier and I expect to be till the war 
ends." 

''March 1, 1864. 
" When I am not on duty I am reading my Testament." 

» Memphis, Feb. 19, 1865. 
" I employ most of my time in reading my Testament and 



436 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

religious papers the Christian Commission brings us. I 

have read my Testament almost through since I have been 

here." 

" Abbeville, Miss., Aug. 18, 1864. 

" We were ordered to the front yesterday. It rained 
very hard as we started. We went about six miles to a 
creek called Hurricane ; there we ran into the Rebs and 
fought them an hour and a half The Rebs had also a 
six-gim battery and breastworks. We were on a high hill, 
in plain view of them. They poured the shell into us 
when we were placing our battery in position. Shells flew 
around us and over our heads thick and fast. Yet in the 
fight we had but two men hurt, and they slightly. I could 
see the shells coming and it looked like they were coming 
right at my head. I would rather be at the guns than with 
the team." 

, " Memphis, July 20, 1864. 

" What is it that I have written that sets so hard with 
the folks? I am sure I have not written against any 
except Copperheads. Thee says I have a good many 
friends that come to hear my letters read. Thee had 
better not call anybody a friend of mine that will get 
mad at what I write about Copperheads. I can't claim 
any friendship with them. I might as well call the Rebs 
my friends. The longer I stay down here, the more I 
hate Copperheads, and I can't help it." 

" Nashville, Jan. 14, 1865. 
" I have seen men shot in every shape that could be 
thought of. In the afternoon about three o'clock, when 
our men charged their works and drove the Rebs, it 
looked hard to see the wounded lying in the mud 
begging for help." 

" Nashville, Dec. 11. 

*' We are lying in line of battle yet. It is very cold. It 
rained and sleeted and snowed on us, and we had no tents. 



SECOND IOWA BATTERY. 437 

We have dug holes in the ground and stretched our rub- 
ber blankets overthem, and it makes us quite comfortable. 
We are lying on a hill higher than the tree-tops ; so the 
wind has a fair sweep at us. Our line of battle is about 
eight miles long." 

Peter H. Lee enlisted Feb. 19, 1864; died of inflam- 
mation of the lungs. His remains were removed from 
Memphis to Trullinger's Grove, Polk County, and interred 
in the cemetery there. He was resigned to his death, and 
drew the kindly sympathies of all in the hospital by the 
noble qualities of mind and heart manifested by him 
during his illness. 



COMPANY E, EIGHTY-NINTH ILLINOIS VOL- 
UNTEERS. 

JAMES NICHOLAS. 

Among the Polk County men who enlisted in other 
States, was James Nicholas, son of Charles Nicholas, of 
East Des Moines ; enlisted in Company E, 89th Illinois, 
imder Captain Kidder. Went with the company first to 
Louisville, then to Nashville, and to the front. In the 
battle of Stone River, Dec. 31, 1862, he was killed. A 
strong, healthful man — never sick in his life ; born in 
Hanover, Columbia County, Ohio, Feb. 19, 1839; came 
with his parents to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1855. Business 
called him to Illinois, at various times, and Aug. 8, 1862, 
he enlisted. 

The following letter from an intimate friend of the 

deceased, to Miss Nicholas of Des Moines, speaks of the 

manner of his death : — 

" Aurora, III., Jan. 19, 1863. 

" I presume you have heard ere this that your dear 

brother lies cold and silent on the battle-field. He was 

killed on the morning of the first day of the fight. You 

have lost a noble, true, and kind brother." 

Again, March 1st : — 

" I wrote to my brother Charley about your brother. 
Charley helped to bury him. They buried him alongside 
of nineteen others. He had no coffin — poor boy ! — but 
they took cedar boughs and bent and put under him ; and 
they also covered him with cedar boughs. They put his 
name on a board to mark his grave. His was a noble 
death, and his grave is surrounded by thousands of other 
brave and noble men." 



TWENTY-FIRST MISSOURI INFANTRY. 

GEORGE R. SPENCER. 

Mr. Joseph Col well, of Camp Township, reared Spen- 
cer from a child sixteen months old, until he had reached his 
seventeenth year. George first enlisted in the 23d Iowa 
regiment ; but was not permitted to go, being too young. 
He afterwards went to Missouri, and enlisted in the 21st 
Missouri. He was with the regiment about eleven months, 
when before Fort Blakely, at Mobile, Ala., in the charge 
on the 9th of April, 1865, he was mortally wounded, and 
died in a few hours ; struck in the side ; the ball passed 
through his bowels. " He was a good boy," says Mr. 
Colwell, " temperate, industrious, good in every way." His 
brother carried him from the field and buried him. 



COMPANY G, SECOND NEBRASKA VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

WILLIAM A. McCLAIN, 

And feis brother Jacob P., were out in Nebraska and 
enlisted. His regiment was sent against the Indians on 
the plains; was with Sully at the battle of Whitestone 
Hill, — having travelled six weeks without being in sight 
of timber. After this expedition, McClain came with his 
regiment to Fort Randall ; there he took sick, from the 
effects of the exposure of the campaign, and died. He was 
buried at Fort Randall. Born in Braxton County, Va., 
June 22, 1837 ; came to Iowa with his parents in 1845, — 
his father, J. D. McClain, Esq., being one of the earliest 
settlers of Polk County, and one of her most estimable 
citizens. William was an active, industrious, upright young 
man, and a good soldier. 



COMPANY I, NINETY-SEVENTH OHIO VOLUN- 
TEERS. 

LIEUTENANT GEORGE F. JACK, 

A BROTHER of Mr. John Jack, for some years Recorder 
of Polk County, and of Mr. Armor Jack, a prominent 
business man of Des Moines, served his country faithfully 
through the war ; returned home at its close, and came 
to his death by accidental drowning in Raccoon River, 
April 19, 1867. Assisting in bringing a ferry boat over, 
laden with men and horses, the boat suddenly sinking, 
he and Asher Holcomb (formerly a member of Company 
B, 39th Iowa Infantry) were both drowned. The " State 
Register " of April 20th, in noting that circumstance, speaks 
of George Jack as follows : — 

" Mr. Jack was a young man, unmarried, twenty-two 
years old. His father resides in Ohio. He was a young man 
of many good qualities, and very popular wherever known, 
being upright, manly, and honorable. He was a soldifer 
throughout the war, enlisting at first, and serving to the 
last ; and was wounded two or three times, being severely 
wounded in several places at Missionary Ridge. Passing 
through the dreadful perils of war, and escaping from a 
thousand varied dangers of the battle and march ; he 
returned home only when peace ended the war, and 
became a quiet citizen of the country he fought to save. 
In an unfortunate hour, he met an untimely and awful 
death. The sad news will be received by his friends every- 
where with the most intense pain." 



442 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

The following well written memoir of Lieutenant George 
F. Jack was prepared by Mr. John Jack, at the request of the 
author of this volume : — 

" George F. Jack was born Nov. 24, 1839, in Clark 
Township, Coshocton County, Ohio. He was reared on a 
farm, and, in the spring of 1857, came to Des Moines, Polk 
County, Iowa, and worked with his brothers at the carpen- 
ter and joiner business, until the fall of 1860, when he went 
back to Ohio on a visit. The next spring, when volunteers 
were called for, he was among the first to enlist, and was 
mustered into Company A, 16th Ohio Volunteers (three 
months' men) April 24, 1861. After serving out his period 
of enlistment, he came home, and immediately commenced 
raising a company of three years' men. In a few days the 
company was raised, and he was appointed Second Lieuten- 
ant of Company K, Thirty-second Regiment, Ohio Volun- 
teers (Governor Ford's regiment). In the spring of 1862, 
he, with eight other commissioned officers of the regiment, 
being dissatisfied with Colonel Ford as a commander, ten- 
dered their resignations, with their reasons therefor, and 
they were honorably discharged the service, by order of 
Major-General Fremont. By resigning when they did, 
they got clear of the cowardly act of Colonel Ford at Har- 
per's Ferry. After going home and visiting his friends, he 
enlisted in Company I, 97th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and 
was immediately appointed orderly sergeant, which position 
he held till the battle of Missionary Ridge, at which battle 
he was dangerously wounded in the thigh, charging on the 
enemy. Dr. McGorisk, of Des Moines, found him in the 
field hospital with a friend of his, and kindly took care of 
him ; from his wounds he never fully recovered. But as 
soon as he was able, he rejoined his regiment, which 
belonged to the 4th Army Corps, and was in all the battles 
that this corps was engaged in till the end of the war. 

" In one of the battles near Atlanta, his company went in 
with forty-seven men, and came out with only nine, the 



COMPANY I, NINETY-SEVENTH OHIO VOLS. 443 

balance being killed or wounded. He was among the 
fortunate nine. At this battle the Rebels massed their 
forces, and made nine successive charges, which were 
repulsed. 

" He was honorably discharged at the close of the war. 
He received a commission as first lieutenant of his com- 
pany ; but it came too late to avail him anything. He was 
not mustered in. After returning to his home, in Coshocton 
County, the nomination of sheriff was forced on him by the 
Republicans. The county was hopelessly Democratic — 
giving eight or nine hundred majority to that party. He 
reduced the majority materially, running two or three 
hundred ahead of his ticket, and was beaten by less than 
three hundred majority. In the spring of 1866, he came 
back to Des Moines, where he resided at the time of his 
death. 

" He had no personal enemies." 



BATTERY E, FIRST PENNSYLVANIA LIGHT 
ARTILLERY. 

"LIEUTENANT BENJAMIN M. ORWIG,i 
Although not a soldier from Polk County, Iowa, became 
a citizen of Des Moines when the war was ended, and his 
name deserves honorable mention in this record. He was 
a young man of quiet, retiring disposition, unassuming in 
his deportment, liberally educated, and was employed dur- 
ing a portion of his boyhood in teaching and printing. At 
the commencement of the war he was a student at law in 
the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia. His 
native place is Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, where his father, 
Samuel Orwig, still resides. His mother, Mary Myers 
Or wig, died in the summer of 1867. 

" When the strength of the Rebellion was fully devel- 
oped, and the fearful earnestness of its wicked purpose 
was made manifest, and the unscrupulous character of its 
leaders became self-evident ; when the true and noble men 
who stood bravely by our country's flag nobly dared to 
strike at slavery, the root of the trouble ; when good 
men stood trembling for their country, and ' Liberty,' the 
country's glory, was apparently balanced in the scales with 
slavery and sycophancy, the country's shame : then, in 
the darkest hour of our history, the young law-student, of 
whom we write, was met with a proposition from his pre- 
ceptor, a distinguished member of the Philadelphia bar, 
which, in the event of a draft, then impending, would save 

1 This sketch of the life of Lieutenant Orwig was written (at the request 
of the author of this book) b}' one intimately acquainted with the Lieuten- 
ant, and well prepared to do justice to his memory 



BATTERY E, FIRST PENNSYLVANIA LIGHT ARTILLERY. 445 

one of them from military service. The proposition was 
promptly declined, with the answer, ' No act of mine shall 
tend to lessen the number of Union soldiers ; ' and turning 
away from a generous and liberal offer, prompted, perhaps, 
by the sincerest friendship, but deemed by him ill-timed 
and unpatriotic, he enlisted as a private soldier in Battery 
E, First Pennsylvania Light Artillery, then in command 
of his brother. Captain Thomas G. Orwig. He was assigned 
to duty as regimental quartermaster-sergeant, and early 
commissioned to a second lieutenancy, and subsequently 
promoted to first lieutenant of the battery, a position 
desirable on account of his brother's command. Orwig's 
Battery gained honorable distinction by special orders 
commending it for bravery, discipline, and efficient service, 
and had the honor to be the first Union artillery to enter 
Richmond, the citadel of the Rebellion. It was mustered 
into the United States service Aug. 5, 1861 ; served under 
General Smith about Langley, Lewinsville, and Vienna, 
Va., during the fall and winter of 1861-2 ; joined General 
Keyes' corps Feb. 28, 1862, and served until July, 1863 ; 
remained in the Department of Virginia and North Caro- 
lina under Generals Foster, Butler, and Ord ; reenlisted 
January 1, 1864, for three years, and was mustered out of 
the service at Philadelphia, July 24, 1865. Its more 
prominent engagements were — the siege of Yorktown, in 
April, 1862 ; Williamsburg, May 5, 1862 ; Fair Oaks, May 
31, 1862 ; Bottom's Bridge, Williamsburg, April 11, 1863 ; 
siege of Petersburg, Va., June to September, 1864 ; siege 
of Richmond, from September, 1864 to April, 1865 ; en- 
tered the city of Richmond April 3d, 1865. The history 
of the battery is inseparable from Lieutenant Orwig's mili- 
tary record. In the 'Philadelphia Inquirer ' of Aug. 15, 
1862, we find the following honorable mention : — 

" ' It (Orwig's battery) played a very prominent part in 
the battle of Fair Oaks, and also during McCIellan's late 



446 • AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

change of base. Since then it has been honored with the 
flag of the regiment. Gen Keyes officially noticed its dis- 
tinguished services. The following, from the regimental 
records, is truly a credit to our State : — 

" ' " Hd.-Qrs. 1st Penn. Artillery, 4th Corps, ( 

July 26, 1862. j 

" ^ " The Inspector- General of Volunteer Artillery has 
pronounced Battery E superior to any volunteer battery in 
the army. Let the men of Battery E be proud of this ; 
let them treasure the name ! 

"'"ROBERT M. WEST, 

Major, commanding Regiment.'''' ' 

" The ' Philadelphia Press ' of Aug. 4, 1865, says : — 

" ' This battery has seen hard service, having participated 
in many a well-fought field. It had the honor of being the 
first battery of artillery that entered the city of Richmond.' 

" Lieutenant Orwig became a soldier from a sense of 
duty, and as soon as it became certain that the Rebellion 
was broken and must succumb, he tendered his resignation ; 
and through the kindly interest of Senator Harlan, of 
Iowa, the resignation was accepted, and he turned his 
attention to the peaceful pursuits of life, more congenial to 
his taste. In lookingr for a location to commence his life 
anew, he was attracted to the young State, unknown before 
the war, but known and loved by every patriotic soldier for 
her material aid and comfort in the years of trial — Iowa, 
youthful and without distinction at the commencement of 
the Rebellion, sympathetic, prompt, liberal, and strong dur- 
ing the years of hostility, now first in the thoughts of faithful 
soldiers seeking new homes. He located at Des Moines, 
and became associated with his brother, R. G. Orwig, in 
the practice of the law. His acquaintances were few and 



BATTERY E, FIRST PENNSYLVANIA LIGHT ARTILLERY 447 

valued. ^ His time was diligently bestowed on his books and 
his business. His success in life was certain. But the 
years that he gave to his country made stronger demand 
upon his constitution than its strength would bear Appar 
ently robust and healthy, he was of delicate organization 
and evidently unequal to the exposures of soldier life The 
swamps of the Chickahominy and the dilatory strateo-y of 
our doubtful generals, which bred disease and death^Iess 
speedy, but surely as the prison-pens of Andersonville and 
Salisbury, evidently made him a victim. The chills and 
fever of his camp life were overcome at the sacrifice of his 
general health; and although the health-giving atmosphere 
of Iowa gave him the appearance of complete restoration 
he died suddenly and unexpectedly on the 28th day of 
October, 1867, aged twenty-seven years. It is worthy of re- 
mark that his diary, which was kept regularly, and his daily 
memoranda of his soldier life, give evidence of his Chris 
tian character. He was regular in his habits, indulged in 
none of the vices common to the army. His Bib?e and 
bottle of brandy were among his companions ; the first 
well worn and evidencing careful reading, the latter filled 
by the advice of his friends upon entering the army and 
remaining untouched to the day of his death. Plis abilities 
were of a high order, and gave promise of usefulness in 
professional life. He was a close student and much inter- 
ested m the learning of the law, but his non-combative 
nature and early attachment to the printing-office, inclined 
him to the pursuit of editorial duties, in which, more than 
m the practice of law, he would have gained distinction " 



NINETY-SEVENTH OHIO INFANTRY. 

GEORGE CORWIN GOODERELL, 

Son of Hon. Stewart Gooderell, was born in "Washington 
County, Iowa, in the month of January, 1846. Residing 
with his grandfather, Mr. George Gooderell, in Guernsey 
County, Ohio, when the war broke out, he enlisted as a 
private in the Ninety-seventh Ohio regiment, in the fall of 
1862. Being connected with the army of the Cumberland, 
he was in the battles of Murfreesborough, Mission Ridge, 
and in the campaigns in East Tennessee and Northern Geor- 
gia. Having passed unhurt through ten hard fought bat- 
tles, he was killed before Atlanta, June 22, 1864, and bur- 
ied on the field where he fell. He enlisted at the age of 
sixteen, and proved a good and efficient soldier.' He was a 
brother of Captain William H. Gooderell, of the 15th 
Iowa, and Lieutenant Manuel C. Gooderell, of the United 
States Navy. 



PART III. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 



29 



INDEX AND KECOED. 



Acres, Nathaniel, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
10, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Adamson, Joshua, Co. I, 39th Infantry, page 384. 

Adamson, William. Co. E, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
22, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; taken prisoner by the 
enemy Oct. 5, 1864, at Allatoona, Georgia; discharged 
from service at close of war. 

Adamson, Samuel, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
10, 1863 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of war. 

Adkerson, W., 15th Infantry; recruit; enlisted Jan. 1, 
1864; native of Missouri. 

Adkerson, Will'aby, Co. D, 16th Infantry; enlisted 
Jan. 1, 1864 ; native of Wisconsin ; wounded severely in 
left side, July 21, 1864, at Nicojack Creek, Georgia; dis- 
charged at close of war. 

Allaway, Thomas J., Co. F, 16th Infantry, page 236. 

Alexander, Charles A., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted 
Feb. 6, 1865, for three years ; native of Iowa ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Allen, William, 34th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted Jan. 
4, 1864; native of New York. 

Allen, Robert, Jr., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; also, Cavalry 
U. S. A., page 66. 

Allen, Charles, 1st Battery; enlisted Dec. 18, 1863; 
wounded Aug. 18, 1864, slightly in left leg; native of 
Michigan ; discharged at close of war. 

. 1 This comprises the names and record of the Volunteers of Des Moines 
and Polk County, Iowa, obtained from official and private sources. 



452 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Allen, Fletcher, 1st Battery; enlisted Dec. 18, 1863; 
native of Michigan ; discharged at close of war. 

Allmay, Benjamin, recruit, assigned to 4th Iowa Infan- 
try ; native of Illinois; enlisted Sept. 16, 1862. 

Allred, Anderson, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 
17, 1863 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of war. 

Alward, Benjamin P., Co. B, 17th Infantry; enlisted 
Jan. 17, 1862; reenlisted as a veteran April 22, 1864; 
native of Canada ; discharged at close of war. 

Anderson, David L., Co. D, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted 
March 6, 1863; native of Virginia; honorably discharged 
Jan. 10, 1866. 

Anfensen, Ole, Co. K, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 1, 
1861 ; native of Norway ; served three years. 

Angelo, Samuel H., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 9, 1862 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 

Arnold, Wilford, Co. D, 60th U. S. Infantry, col- 
ored, page 399. 

Ash, Thornton, Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
22, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Ashford, Elderkin p., Co. A, 2Sd Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862 ; was first man inside of rebel works at 
Black River ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Ashley, James W., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 
2, 1863 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Ash WORTH, Richard, Co. F, 4th Cavalry, page 413. 

AsHvroRTH, Abraham, Co. E, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 13, 1862 ; native of England ; discharged at close 
of war. 

Atmore, Elijah W., Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted 
Nov. 1, 1861 ; sergeant ; native of Pennsylvania ; served 
three years. 

Ayers, Samuel A., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; native of Iowa ; honorably discharged Dec. 9, 1861. 

Ayres, Henry O., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 



INDEX AND EECORD. 453 

1861 ; sergeant ; wounded Oct. 4, 18G2, at Corinth, Miss., 
in arm severely ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec. 18, 1863 ; 
served to close of war. 

Baber, William J., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; prisoner at Shady Grove 
Dec. 30, 1862; paroled; wounded May 16, 1864, near 
Resaca, Ga. ; discharged at close of war. 

Bachelder, George F., Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 95. 

Bader, George, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
21,1861; native of Germany; wounded May 22,1863, 
at Vicksburg, severely in cheek ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Jan. 1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Baily, Quart, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 23, 
1862 ; native of Kentucky ; discharged at close of war. 

Baker, Elisha, Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 11, 
1864; native of Missouri ; discharged at close of term. 

Baker, Francis M., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 11, 1864; native of Missouri; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

Baker, Lewis P., 1st Battery ; enlisted March 12, 
1864, for three years; native of New York; discharged 
at close of war. 

Baker, John, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 175. 

Baker, George C, Co. B., 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1862 ; native of Illinois ; sergeant ; discharged at close 
of war. 

Ball, John W., Co. D, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted March 
17, 1863 ; native of Indiana ; discharged with regiment. 

Ballard, John, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 
8, 1861 ; discharged for dislocation of hip Oct. 17, 1862, 
at Keokuk. 

Ballard, James, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted March 
16, 1864, for three years; native of Iowa; discharged at 
close of war. 

Banker, Horace, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
14, 1864 ; native of New York ; discharged at expiration 
of term. 



454 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Barcus, Ira, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 15, 
1861; native of Missouri ; honorably discharged Sept. 20, 
1861. 

Bard, John, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 176. 

Bard, George W., Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1861 ; native of Illinois ; reenlisted as a veteran Feb. 1, 
1864 ; wounded Feb. 6, 1865, at Little Salkehatchie, S. C. ; 
discharged at close of war. 

Barkenhalntz, Peter, Co. D, 7th Cavalry; enlisted 
April 3, 1863 ; native of Germany ; discharged with the 
regiment. 

Barkhurst, George W., Co. M, 8th Cavalry; enlisted 
June 24, 1862 ; native of Missouri; discharged at close of 
war. 

Barlow, Stephen, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 
15, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 

1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Barlow, James M., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 

3, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged at expiration of 
term of service. 

Barnes, Oviten, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 12, 
1862; native of Ireland ; discharged at close of war. 

Barnett, John M., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 

4, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec. 18, 
1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Barnett, Moses F., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 

2, 1861 ; native of New York ; honorably discharged 
Oct. 23, 1861. 

Barnum, FIdward W., Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 140. 

Barrett, Andrew J., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 22, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged 
Oct. 13, 1862. 

Barrett, Henry A., Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 152. 

Barrickman, Robert E., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted 
Aug. 2, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; wounded Feb. 20, 
1864, at Prairie Station, Miss., in right arm; reenlisted as 
a veteran March 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 455 

Barrie, William W., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 

4, 1861 ; native of New York ; discharged at close of war. 
Barton, Arthur J., 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 5, 

1862 ; appointed Chaplain Sept. 5, 1862 ; native of Penn- 
sylvania ; served to close of war. 

Bass, Charles T. P., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 16, 1864; native of Maine; discharged at expiration 
of term of service. 

Bates, Oliver D., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of New York ; discharged at close of war. 

Bausman, Adam C, 10th Infantry ; 3d musician ; en- 
listed Oct. 1, 1861 ; honorably discharged at Bird's Point 
Feb. 26, 1862. 

Bausman, Julian, Co. K, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 
26, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; commissioned First 
Lieutenant, from first sergeant, Sept. 4, 1862 ; commis- 
sioned Captain Jan. 18, 1864 ; mustered out Dec. 19, 1864, 
on expiration of term of enlistment. 

Baylies, William C, Co. K, 10th Infantry ; enhsted 
Oct. 1, 1861 ; native of Louisiana ; reenhsted as a veteran 
Feb. 1, 1864 ; commissioned First Lieutenant, from first 
sergeant, Jan. 4, 1865 ; discharged at close of war. 

Baylies, Ripley N., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
April 30, 1864 ; native of Louisiana ; discharged at expi- 
ration of term of service. 

Beach, David, 4th Infantry ; commissioned Assistant 
Surgeon July 6, 1863. 

Beals, Sereno C, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 

5, 1862; native of Massachusetts ; sergeant; discharged at 
close of war. 

Beals, Adoniram J., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 11, 1864; native of Massachusetts; discharged at 
expiration of term. 

Bean, Stephen S., Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 172. 

Bean, Michael C, Co. G, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 23, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of 
war. 



456 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Beason, Albert, Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 
11, 1864 ; native of Iowa ; discharged at expiration of 
term of service. 

Beck, James, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 15, 
1861 ; native of New York ; wounded in arm at Pea 
Ridge March 7, 1862 ; served three years. 

Beckett, Luke, Co. D, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Jan. 11, 
1865, for one year ; native of Indiana; discharged at close 
of war. 

Beekman, Charles, Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 213. 

Beeson, Henry H., Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 271. 

Beighler, Enoch, Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 279. 

Beighler, Harrison, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 9, 1862 ; native of Indiana; wounded March 28th, 
1865, at Spanish Fort, Ala. ; discharged at close of war. 

Belknap, Orrin J., Co. A, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 

1, 1862 ; promoted sergeant-major, from third sergeant, 
Co. A ; native of Michigan ; honorably discharged Dec. 
19, 1863. 

Belknap, David, Co. H, 23d Infantry ; enlisted April 

2, 1863 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 
Bell, William A., Co. K, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 

1, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; wounded Nov. 25, 1863, at 
Chattanooga, Tenn., severely in the arm and shoulder ; 
served three years. 

Bell, Jephtha W., Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 151. 

Bell, Washington, Co. D, 60th U. S. Infantry ; col- 
ored, page 399. 

Bell, John, Co. D, 60th U. S. Infantry ; colored ; enlisted 
Aug. 24, 1863 ; native of Missouri ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Benedict, Jason, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Jan. 
4, 1864, for three years ; native of Canada ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Benell, William, Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 284. 

Bennett, John C, 10th Infantry ; commissioned Major 
Sept. 1, 1861 ; resigned Jan. 24, 1862. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 457 

Bennett, Joshua S., 2d Cavalry ; recruit ; enlisted 
Jan. 4, 1864 ; native of Ohio. 

Bentley, George M., Co. B, 10th Infantry, page 191. 
Berry, George, Co. M, 8th Cavalry; enlisted Aug. 

10, 1862 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 
Betts, Shepherd W., Co. C, 23d Infantry; enlisted 

Aug. 9, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; honorably dis- 
charo-ed March 6, 1863, at St. Louis. 

Betts, Mathias, Co. E, 23d Infantry; enlisted Aug. 

11, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Feb. 7, 
•1863, at Iron Mountain, Missouri. 

Beverly, Robert, Co. D, 60th U. S. Infantry ; colored ; 
enlisted Aug. 24, 1863 ; native of Missouri ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Biggs, Amos, Co. D, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted March 1, 
1863 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Jan. 10, 
1866. 

BiLLSLAND, Reuben, Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 154. 

Birch, Thomas S., Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 67. 

Birch, Francis A., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1862 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of war. 

Bird, Empson, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 9, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; honorably discharged April 14, 
1863. 

Bird, William K., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; honorably discharged Aug. 
19, 1861. 

BiSHARD, Daniel C, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted 
June 1, 1863 ; native of Ohio ; sergeant ; honorably dis- 
charged May 25, 1865. 

BiSHARD, John F., 1st Battery; enlisted March 11, 
1864, for three years ; discharged at close of war. 

Bishop, John E., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 

12, 1864; native of Ohio; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Bitting, William H., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted 



458 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

May 4, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; served three 
years. 

Blair, John G., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 

17, 1864 ; native of Pennsylvania ; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

Blair, Andrew F., Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted Jan. 

1, 1865 ; native of Missouri ; discharged with regiment. 

Bliler, Franklin F., 2d Battery ; enlisted Nov. 10, 

1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; discharged at close of war. 
Blodgett, Andrew T., Co. B, 39th Infantry, page 

370. 

Blodgett, Charles W., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 14, 1864 ; native of Wisconsin ; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

Blue, Oscar, Co. D, 60th U. S. Infantry ; colored ; 
enlisted Aug. 24, 1863 ; native of Missouri ; discharged at 
close of war. 

BoATRiGHT, Daniel, Co. 1, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; honorably discharged Dec. 
8, 1864. 

Bolton, Leander, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
14, 1864 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Bolton, Homer, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
14, 1864; native of Indiana ; discharged at expiration of 
term. * 

Bolton, Lewis 'E., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
14, 1864 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Bonine, John M., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted Nov. 

18, 1861 ; honorably discharged Jan. 11, 1865. 

Boone, Pincknet, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted June 
24, 1863 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Boone, Scott, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted June 24, 

1863 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 459 

BouDiNOT, Lucius, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 
10, 1861; promoted hospital steward; native of New 
Jersey ; honorably discharged Sept. 1, 1862. 

Bowles, John, Co. I, 39th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 14, 
1862 ; native of North Carolina ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Bowles, Joseph, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
14, 1862; native of North Carolina; discharged at close 
of war. 

Bowman, Thomas, 2d Battery ; enlisted Sept. 5, 1864 ; 
native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Boyd, Robert H., Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
23,1861; native of Indiana; honorably discharged Dec. 
27, 1862. 

BoYER, Jacob, Co. G, 23d Infantry, page 333. 

Bradford, Isaac V., Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enhsted 
Jan. 25, 1864, for three years ; native of Ohio ; captured 
by the enemy Oct. 5, 1864, at Allatoona, Ga. ; discharged 
at close of war. 

Bradford, William R., Co. E, 7th Iowa Cavalry ; 
enlisted March 13, 1863 ; native of Ohio ; discharged 
with the regiment. i 

Bradley, Francis, Co. M, 8th Cavalry, page 425. 

Brady, Edward, Co. M, 6th Cavalry ; enlisted Oct. 27, 
1862 ; native of Ireland ; discharged with regiment Oct. 
17, 1865. 

Brady, Casper S., Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 62. 

Bramhall, Emerson S., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 15, 1861 ; sergeant; native of Ohio; reenlisted as a 
veteran Jan. 1, 1864; commissioned First Lieutenant Jan. 
3, 1865 ; discharged at close of war. 

Brand, Martin Van, Co. K, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Oct. 1, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Braunt, Horatio, Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 
12, 1864; native of New York; discharged at expiration 
of term. 



460 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Brazleton, Oliver P., Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted 
Oct. 22, 1861 ; native of Wisconsin ; honorably discharged 
at St. Louis, March 28, 1862. 

Brazleton, Jacob, Co. I, 18th Infantry ; enlisted July 
10, 1862 ; native of Wisconsin ; discharged at close of the 
war. 

Brooks, James F., Co. F, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
22, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Brooks, Benjamin A., Co. F, 47th Infantry, page 396. 

Brooks, McHenry, Co. B, 1st Infantry ; enlisted 
April 18, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at expira- 
tion of term of service. 

Brooks, James E. T., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 11, 1864; native of Indiana ; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Brown, Matthew C, Co. B, 23d Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 7, 1862; native of New York; commissioned First 
Lieutenant July 8, 1863 ; commissioned Adjutant of 23d 
Iowa, Aug. 31, 1864, which he declined ; served to close 
of war. 

Brown, James, 60th U. S. Infantry ; colored ; recruit ; 
enlisted Jan. 9, 1865 ; native of Georgia. 

Brown, William C. (or F.), Co. K, 10th Infantry ; 
enlisted Oct. 1, 1861 ; native of Maine ; honorably dis- 
charged April 23, 1862. 

Brown, Joy P., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 9, 
1862; native of Indiana; honorably discharged May 6, 
1863. 

Brown, John, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 288. 

Brown, Z. A., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted July 2o, 
1862 ; native of Ohio; transferred to battery ; discharged 
at close of war. 

Brown, Harvey, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; native of Indiana ; wounded at Corinth, Oct. 4, 
1862 ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec. 23, 1863 ; discharged 
at close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 461 

Brown, Leonard, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
16, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Browne, John H., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; discharged to accept commission as Second Lieu- 
tenant, 17th Infantry, Co. F, March 13, 1862 ; native of 
England ; reenlisted as a veteran ; commissioned Captain 
June 3, 1863 ; taken prisoner at Tilton, Ga., Oct. 13, 1864 ; 
discharged at close of war. 

Brubaker, John C, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted Nov. 
21, 1861 ; native of Tennessee ; honorably discharged Dec. 
3, 1862. 

Bruce, John R., 4th Infantry (recruit, company un- 
known) ; enlisted Sept. 16, 1862 ; native of Illinois. 

Bruner, William R., Co. K, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Oct. 1, 1861 ; native of Indiana; wounded Oct. 4, 1862, at 
Corinth, Miss., in thigh ; transferred Sept. 15, 1863, to 
Veteran Reserve Corps. 

Bryan, Samuel H., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
14, 1864; discharged at expiration of term. 

Bull, William, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 298. 

Bull, John T., Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 298. 

BuNCE, James E., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of New York ; honorably discharged 
June 5, 1863. 

Bun TAN, William T., Co. A, lOth Infantry ; enlisted 
Dec. 14, 1861 ; served three years. 

BuRBRiDGE, James W., Co. D, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
May 4, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; served three years. 

Burden, Alfred, Co. H, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
20, 1862; native of Indiana; captured Dec. 30, 1862, at 
Shady Grove, Tenn. ; joined 7th veteran Infantry, Co. 
C, May 30, 1865, for three years ; discharged at close of 
war. 

BuRGE, Andrew J., Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 217. 

Burgett, Francis M., Co. A, 23d Infantry, page 260. 



462 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

BuRK, Doctor F., Co. D, 2d Cavalry; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; native of Illinois ; served three years. 

Burke, John, 2d Battery ; enlisted Aug. 1, 1861 ; native 
of Ireland; commissioned First Lieutenant Aug. 3, 1864 ; 
discharged with battery Aug. 7, 1865. 

BuRLEY, Edward W., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Virginia; sergeant ; served three 
years. 

Burt, George W., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 11, 1864; native of Iowa; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Burt, Calvin M., Co. B, 23d Infantry; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1862 ; native of New York ; sergeant ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Burt, James S., 2d Battery; enlisted Sept. 5, 1864; 
native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Butler, William B., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 9, 1862; native of Indiana; sergeant; honorably dis- 
charged Jan. 21, 1863. 

Butler, Charles A., Co. C, 23d Infantry; enlisted 
Auo-. 9, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; wounded at Black River 
Bridge May 17, 1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Butler, John N., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; native of Indiana ; sergeant ; reenlisted as a veteran 
March 1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Buttolph, John R., 2d Battery ; enlisted Aug. 1, 1861 ; 
native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Buttolph, Romulus, 2d Battery, page 434. 

BuziCK, William C, Co. E, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 12, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Byram, Adam, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 21, 
1861 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Byram, Andrew P., Co. K, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Nov. 13, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Jan. 1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 463 

Cahal, James H., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
7, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Calahan Peter, Co. D, 60th U. S. Infantry ; colored, 
page 398. 

Callahan, Thomas W., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted 
July 8, 1862 ; native of Scotland ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Callender, John D., 1st Battery, page 432. 
Callender, William H., 1st Battery, page 431. 
Callender, William, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted 
May 4, 1861 ; native of Ohio; served three years. 

Campbell, John, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Jan. 4, 1864 ; 
recruit. 

Campbell, Frederick T., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; en- 
listed Aug. 9, 1862 ; native of Vermont ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Campbell, Wilson M., 2d Battery; enlisted Aug. 14, 
1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Canfield, Jeremiah, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania; served three years. 

Canfield, Gilford B., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted 

Aug 2, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; served three years. 

Carder, Frederick, Co. B, 39th Infantry; enlisted 

Aug. 12, 1862 ; native of Germany ; wounded Oct. 5, 1864, 

at Allatoona, Ga. ; discharged at close of war. 

Carison, Lemuel M., Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 291. 
Carr, William H., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
13, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Carr, Henry, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 13, 
1862; native of Indiana; wounded May 1, 1863, at Ander- 
son's Hill, Miss., in hand ; transferred to Veteran Reserve 
Corps Feb. 16, 1863. 

Carter, John A., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 
15, 1861 ; native of Delaware ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Jan. 1, 1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Casbier, Elijah, Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 



464 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

11, 1864; native of Illinois; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Case, Philo L., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; served three years. 

Case, Girard M. C, Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 153. 

Case, William, Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
23, 1861 ; native of Illinois ; reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 
25, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Case, Isaac, Co. B, 39th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 14, 
1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Cason, John J., Co. K, 4th Infantry; enlisted Sept. 
16, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Cassadt, James, Co. E, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted April 1, 
1863 ; native of New York ; discharged with regiment. 

Cassida, James R., Co. B, 17th Infantry; enlisted 
March 9, 1862 ; native of New York ; served three years. 

Cassida, Thomas H., Co. B, 17th Infantry; enlisted 
March 10, 1862 ; native of New York ; wounded May 16, 
1863, at Champion Hills, in left breast severely; honorably 
discharged Aug. 26, 1864. 

Cattern, A. S., Co. D, 2d Cavalry; enlistedOct.il, 
1861 ; native of Illinois ; reenlisted as a veteran March 

1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Cave, Cyrus, Co. B, 39th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 12, 
1862 ; native of Kentucky ; transferred Aug. 10, 1864, 
to Veteran Reserve Corps. 

Cefley, Andrew, Co. B, 39th Infantry, page 370. 

Chaffee, Jesse M., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 

2, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; served three years. 
Chamberlin, William H., Co. B, 39th Infantry, page 

356. 

Chambers, Samuel, Co. M, 8th C^alry ; enlisted July 
25, 1862 ; native of Ohio; discharged at close of war. 

Chenov^^eth, Simon M., Co. F, 47th Infantry, page 394. 

Childs, George H., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Maine ; honorably discharged Dec. 19, 
1861, at St. Louis, Mo. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 465 

Chism, James, 34th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted Jan. 4, 
1864; native of Illinois. 

Chism, Richard S., o4th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted 
Jan. 4, 1864 ; native of Illinois. 

Chrisman, Lorenzo D., 16th Infantry; recruit; en- 
listed Jan. 5, 1864; native of Illinois. 

Christy, William D., Co. D, 2d Infantry; enlisted 
May 4, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Dec. 23, 1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Christy, William, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; discharged at close of war. 

Chrystal, Benjamin F., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted 
Dec. 16, 1861 ; native of Indiana; reenlisted as a veteran 
Dec. 23, 1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Chrystal, James A., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted Dec. 
16,1861; native of Indiana ; taken prisoner at Corinth, 
Miss., Oct. 4, 1862 ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec. 23, 1863 ; 
discharged at close of war. 

Clark, Charles J., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; commis- 
sioned First Lieutenant Sept. 24, 1861 ; resigned Dec. 3, 
1861 ; commissioned Captain Company B, 23d Infantry, 
Sept. 19, 1862 ; Major of 23d Infantry, Dec. 1, 1862 ; 
Lieutenant-Colonel of same. May 19, 1863 ; mustered out 
with his regiment July 26, 1865 ; native of New York. 

Clark, Tally, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 22, 
1862; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Clary, Isaac, Co. E, 4th Infantry; enlisted July 15, 
1861 ; native of Indiana; severely wounded at Pea Ridge, 
in the abdomen, March 7, 1862 ; served three years. 

Clary Vachiel, Co. E, 4th Infantry; enlisted July 15. 
1861 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Clary, Henry C, Co. K, 4th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 
16, 1862; native of Indiana; served three years. 

Clay, William, Co. D, 60th U. S. Infantry, page 399. 

Cleavinger, William, Co. M, 8th Cavah-y ; enlisted 
July 15, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 
30 



466 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Clelland, Thomas M., Co. M, 8th Cavalry, page 424. 

Clevenyer, Jasper N., 34th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted 
Jan. 4, 1864; native of Ohio. 

Clifton, John, Co. D, 60th U. S. Infantry ; colored ; 
enlisted Aug. 19, 1863 ; native of Missouri ; discharged 
at close of war. 

Cline, Squire G., 2d Battery ; enlisted Aug. 1, 1861 ; 
native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran March 23, 
1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Close, William L., Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 217. 

CoBURN, Dexter B., Co. D, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted 
March 6, 1863 ; native of New York ; discharged with 
regiment. 

CoBURN, Francis, 2d Battery ; enlisted Aug. 29, 1864 ; 
native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Cochran, John C, Co. E, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted March 
3, 1863; native of North Carolina; discharged with the 
regiment. 

CocKERAL, Frank, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Dec. 
1, 1861 ; served three years. 

CocKERHAM, David M., Co. D, 2d Cavalry, page 402. 

CocKERHAM, JosEPH F., Ist Battcry ; enlisted Jan. 1, 
1864 ; native of North Carolina ; discharged at close of war. 

CoFFEEN, Henry, 1st Battery; enlisted Jan. 4, 1864; 
native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Coffey, George A., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 12, 1862; native of Kentucky; taken prisoner 
Dec. 30, 1862, at Shady Grove, Tenn. ; paroled ; discharged 
at close of war. 

Coffey, William G., Co. B, 39th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 
17, 1862 ; native of Kentucky; discharged at close of war. 

CoFFMAN, Isaac, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted March 
22, 1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Cole, Samuel D., Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
22, 1862; native of Tennessee ; taken prisoner Oct. 5, 
1864, at AUatoona, Ga. ; discharged with his regiment at 
close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 467 

Cole, IIenky, recruit ; company and regiment not given. 

Collins, Elijah, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 9, 

1862; native of Illinois ; honorably discharged May 6, 

1863, at Pilot Knob, Mo. 

Collins, Hiram, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 9, 
1862; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

CoNDiT, Daniel M., Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 280. 

Condon, Charles M., Co. I, 18th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 12, 1862; commissioned Second Lieutenant; also 
Captain ; mustered out with regiment July 20, 1865. 

Conner, Leroy S., Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 220. 

Cook, Hiram C, Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 48. 

CooLEY, George W., Co. H, 9th Cavalry ; enlisted 
Oct. 8, 1863 ; native of Wisconsin ; discharged at close 
of war. 

Cooper, Charles B., 1st Battery ; enlisted March 8, 

1864, for three years ; native of England; discharged at 
close of war. 

Cooper, Joseph, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; nafive of England ; wounded slightly at Fort Don- 
elson Feb. 16, 1862 ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec. 27, 
1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Corey, Cassius M., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Illinois ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Feb. 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Corey, William, Co. H, 10th Infantry; enlisted March 

8, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran March 

9, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Cornish, Hiram D., Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 145. 

Cory, Benjamin C, Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Feb. 15, 1865; native of Vermont; discharged at close 
of war. 

Coryell, Daniel F., Co. B, 4th veteran Infantry ; en- 
listed Jan. 9, 1865, for one year ; honorably discharged 
May 6, 1865. 

Costello, Thomas, Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 163. 



468 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

CoTTERELL, Benjamin F., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted 
Aug. 2, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Nov. 
10, 1861. 

Cottle, Elias, Co. E, 2od Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 4, 
1862; native of England; wounded March 28, 1865, at 
Spanish Fort, Ala. ; discharged at close of war. 

Couch, William S., Co. C, 2od Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
9, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged with regiment at 
close of war. 

Couch, Josephus, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
28, 1864 ; native of Pennsylvania ; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

Courtney, George W., Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 172. 

Covey, William, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
8, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Cowgill, Gustavus v., Co. G, 23d Infantry, page 334. 

Cox, Clark, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 21, 
1861 ; native of Indiana; reenlisted as a veteran Feb. 1, 
1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Crabtree, Mattheav, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of England; served three years. 

Crabtree, Henry, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; sergeant ; wounded June 7, 
1863, at Milliken's Bend, La., severely in the shoulder ; 
discharged at close of war. 

Crabtree, George W., 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 5, 
1864; native of Ohio; discharged at close of war. 

Craig, Alexander, Co. E, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
13, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; wounded May 1, 1863, at 
Port Gibson, Miss. ; discharged at close of war. 

Craig, Lewis, Co. D, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted March 15, 
1863 ; native of Indiana; discharged with regiment. 

Crandall, Caleb, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; taken prisoner at Shady Grove, Tenn., De- 
cember 30, 1862; honorably discharged Feb. 28, 1863, at 
St. Louis. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 469 

Ceanshaw, James R., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; discharged at close 
of war. 

Cree, Theodore G., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted Nov. 
31, 1861; native of Ohio; wounded at Donelson ; dis- 
charged for wounds June 13, 1862; commissioned Second 
Lieutenant Co. A, 23d Infantry, Sept. 19, 1862; pro- 
moted to Captain May 20, 1863; resigned Oct. 21, 1863. 

Crocker, Marcellus M., Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 100. 

Crone, Theodore F., Co. K, 4th Infantry ; enlisted 
Sept. 15, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Cross, Robert W., Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted as a 
private Dec. 21,1861; promoted commissary sergeant; 
commissioned Captain Co. H, 23d Infantry, July 25, 1863 ; 
mustered out with regiment July 26, 1865. 

Crosthwait, Thomas P., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted 
July 16, 1862; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Crow, Benjamin, Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 157. 

Crow, John L., Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 157. 

Crow, Edward, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
13, 1864 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Crow, William M., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
13, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Crowe, John F., 2d Battery ; enlisted Sept. 25, 1862 ; 
native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Crystal, John, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 
1862 ; native of Kentucky ; honorably discharged July 24, 
1865. 

Cunningham, John, Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Oct. 1, 1861; native of Pennsylvania; reenlisted as a 
veteran Feb. 1, 1864; discharged with regiment Aug. 
15, 1865. 

Cunningham, William H. H., Co. A, 48th Infantry ; 



470 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

enlisted June 20, 1864; native of Illinois, sergeant ; dis- 
charged at expiration of term. 

Curl, Hiram T., Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted Dec. 
17, 1861 ; transferred Aug. 1, 1863, to Veteran Reserve 
Corps. 

Curl, George, Co. H, 44th Infantry; enlisted May 11, 
1864; native of Indiana ; discharged at expiration of term. 

CuRRAN, Robert, Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted Dec. 
21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; honorably discharged Feb. 
6, 1863. 

CuRRAN, John, Co. B, loth Infantry; enlisted Sept. 9, 
1861 ; served three years. 

CuRRAN, James R., 1st Battery; enlisted Jan. 24, 1864; 
native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Daily, Patrick, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Ireland. 

Daily, James J., Co. F, 27th Infantry ; enlisted May 
16, 1864; native of Iowa; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Daily, Leavis N., Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 300. 

Danforth, Andrew J., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 15, 1861 ; native of Rhode Island ; served three 
years. 

Dangler, Samuel J., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; commissioned First Lieutenant 
Sept. 0, 1863 ; breveted Captain U. S. Vols. April 2, 1865 ; 
mustered out with regiment Sept. 19, 1865. 

Darling, Porter N., Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 306. 

Davis, Ephraim P., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; hospital steward ; transferred 
to same position in 10th Infantry ; commissioned Assistant 
Surgeon of 39th Infantry Sept. 17, 1862; resigned Jan. 4, 
1865. 

Davis, William P., 10th Infantry, page 353. 

Davis, John S., Co. D, 34th Infantry, page 350. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 471 

Davis, William L., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec. 18, 
1863; commissioned First Lieutenant May 24, 1864; 
mustered out with his regiment July 12, 1865. 

Davis, Andrew S., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 
15, 1861; sergeant; native of Virginia; reenlisted as a 
veteran Jan. 1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Davis, Jacob K., Co. B, 10th Infantry, page 190. 

Davis, A. S., Co. B, 17th Infantry ; enlisted March 1, 
1862 ; native of New York ; served three years. 

Davis, James W., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 8. 
1862 ; native of Illinois ; captured July 30, 1864, at New- 
nan, Ga. ; served to close of war. 

Davis, Oliver P., 2d Battery; enlisted Aug. 1, 1861 ; 
native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Day, Edwin W., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 16, 
1864; native of Delaware; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Dazey, Charles P. B., 2d Battery; enlisted Oct. 17, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Dean, William M., Co. C, 2od Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
9, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; served to close of war. 

Dean, James H., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 9, 
1862 ; native of Ohio; discharged at close of war. 

Deaton, James K., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
7, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; honorably discharged March 
23, 1863. 

Deets, Noah, Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Jan. 13, 
1865; native of Virginia; honorably discharged June 25, 
1865. 

Deford, Franklin, Co. A, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted Feb. 
27, 1863 ; native of Illinois ; commissioned First Lieuten- 
ant April 14, 1866 ; mustered out with his regiment. 

Dennis, John M., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 7, 
1862; native of Ohio; discharged at close of war. 

Derickson, Erastus S., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 



472 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Aug. 2, 1862; native of Ohio; sergeant; discharged at 
close of war. 

Derickson, Dwight, Co. B, 23d Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Derickson, William W., Co. M, 8th Cavalry, page 
426. 

Derickson, Charles W., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Jan. 4, 1864 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 

De VAULT, James C, Co. F, 16th Infantry; enlisted 
Jan. 27, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; wounded at Shiloh April 
6, 1862, severely ; taken prisoner by the enemy July 22, 
1864, at Atlanta, Ga ; served three years. 

Devin, George, Co. B, 48th Infantry ; enlisted June 
20, 1864 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Dewet, John W., Co. F., 16th Infantry, page 231. 

Dickerson, John A., Co. D, 2d Infantry; enlisted 
May 4, 1861 ; native of New York ; served three years. 

Dickey, William A., Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted 
Oct. 11, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted Jan. 5, 1864; 
discharged at close of war. 

Dickey, James A., Co. 11, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 
11, 1864; native of Ohio; discharged at exjDiration of 
term. 

DiLLMAN, David B., Co. K, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Feb. 18, 1862 ; native of Kentucky ; honorably dis- 
charged July 6, 1863. 

Dinwiddie, Edward S., Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 171. 

DiNWiDDiE, Lewis F., Co. K, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Oct. 1, 1861 ; native of Ohio; served three years. 

Dippert, William, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Oct. 
11, 1861; native of Germany; served three years. 

Dixon, John, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 15, 
1861 ; native of New York ; honorably discharged Nov. 
24, 1862. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 473 

DoAK, William, 2c1 Battery ; enlisted Oct. 1, 1861 ; 
native of Pennsylvania ; reenlisted as a veteran March 
23, 1864 ; discharged with the battery at close of war. 

DooLEY, Silas, Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Jan. 10, 
1865 ; native of Missouri ; discharged at close of war. 

DoRAN, George W., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 
9, 1862 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 

DoRENCE, Alexander, 4th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 15, 
1862 ; native of Michigan (company not reported). 

Doty, Nathan W., Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 31. 

DouGHTY,|LucON B., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 
15, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 

1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Douglas, Frederick, 60th U. S. Infantry, colored ; 
page 399. 

DouTHiT, Henry H., Co. D, 2d Cavalry, page 404. 

DoAVNS, William H., Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 296. 

Downs, Francis A., Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; served three years. 

Downs, Frederick, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861; native of Connecticut; wounded Sept. 
19, 1862, at luka, Miss., in wrist; reenlisted as a veteran 
Feb. 1, 1864. 

Drake, Oliver, Co. G, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
25, 1862; native of Ohio; honorably discharged June 1, 
1865. 

Dreher, Peter, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861; native of Germany; wounded in the head and 
ankle, at Donelson, Feb. 15, 1862 ; served three years. 

Dunan, Washington G., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 18, 1861, sergeant ; native of Ohio ; served three 
years. 

Duncan, William, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 

2, 1861 ; native of Canada East ; sergeant ; served three 
years. 

Duncan, Chapin, Co. D, 2d Cavalry, page 402. 



474 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

DuNKLE, William H. H., Co. K, lOth Infantry ; enlisted 
Sept. 24, 1861; native of Ohio; honorably discharged 
Oct. 4, 1862. 

DuNLAP, George G. H., Co. K, 23d Infantry, page 341. 

DuNWOODY, Lorenzo D., Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 283. 

Dyer, John, 1st Battery; enlisted June 2, 1864; 
native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Dykeman, Norton L., Co. D, 2d Infantry; enlisted 
May 4, 1861 ; native of New York ; commissioned First 
Lieutenant June 1, 1861 ; commissioned First Lieutenant 
16th U. S. Infantry, May 14, 1861 ; Captain of same Feb. 
15 ; promoted to brevet Major for gallantry at battle of 
Stone River. 

Dykeman, John H., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enhsted 
Aug. 6, 1862 ; native of New York ; commissioned Captain 
Nov. 24, 1862; resigned Aug. 7, 1864; recommended by 
General Dodge to rank of Colonel ; but declined to accept 
commission. 

Early, William, Co. D, 2d Cavalry; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; native of Ireland ; served three years. 

EcKHART, Lewis C, Co. I, 39th Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 14, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; taken prisoner at Parker's 
Cross-Roads Dec. 30, 1862 ; paroled; discharged with his 
regiment at close of war. 

Edgarton, Samuel, Co. B, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
September, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a vet- 
eran Feb. 1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Edmondson, Henry, Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 
8, 1861 ; native of Canada ; discharged at St. Louis May 
26, 1862, for wounds received at Shiloh ; enlisted in Co. I, 
39th Infantry, Aug. 14, 1862 ; discharged at close of war. 

Edwards, Edward, Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Sept. 11, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Edwards, David, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
22, 1862 ; native of Wales ; discharged at close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 475 

Edwards, William, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1861 ; native of New York ; sergeant ; served three 
years. 

Elliott, James M., Co. B, 34th Infantry, page 348. 

Elliott, Abraham, Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Elliott, Milton B., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted 
Feb. 4, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Elliott, Chester, Co. K, 16th Infantry; enlisted Feb. 
22, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Elliott, Henry H., Co. B, 39th Infantry, page 369. 

Elliott, Benjamin, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted 
July 1, 1863 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 

Elliott, Thomas, 1st Battery; enlisted Jan. 4, 1864; 
native of Indiana; honorably discharged May 9, 1865. 

Ellis, Jason L., Co. I, 18th Infantry, page 244. 

Emery, John A., Co. K, 16th Infantry; enlisted Feb. 
15, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Feb. 15, 1864; wounded June 27th, 1864, at Kenesaw 
Mountain, in left knee ; taken prisoner July 22d, 1864, 
near Atlanta, Ga. ; exchanged ; discharged at close of war. 

Enfield, Samuel, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 298. 

England, Weldp:n, Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted 
May 4, 1864; commissioned First Lieutenant June 4, 
1864; native of England ; mustered out with his company 
at the expiration of term of enlistment. 

English, Arthur, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1861 ; native of New York; reenlisted as a veteran 
Feb. 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Ensign, Edgar T., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of New York ; from second sergeant, 
promoted to Second Lieutenant June 1, 1861 ; First 
Lieutenant Dec. 5, 1861 ; wounded at Fort Donelson ; 
Captain June 22d, 1862; Major 9th Cavalry Oct 26, 
1863 ; breveted Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel U. S. 
Volunteers ; resigned Oct. 27, 1865. 



476 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Entwistlee, George W., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 7, 1862; native of New York ; discharged at close 
of war. 

EsLiCK, Samuel S., Co. H, 44th Infantry; enlisted 
May 11, 1864; native of Missouri; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

EsTLE, WiLLiAji, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Oct. 6, 1861 ; 
enlisted in Co. G, 18th Infantry, July 10, 1862 ; discharged 
Nov. 13, 1862, for disability. 

Ethridge, Samuel S., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 13, 1864 ; native of New Hampshire ; first sergeant ; 
discharged with his regiment. 

Evans, William M., Co. C, 23d Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 7, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; wounded May 17, 1863, 
at Black River, Miss. ; discharged at close of war. 

Evans, Joseph Bedford, Co. F, 7th Infantry, page 166. 

Evans, Ira T., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 18, 
1864 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at expiration of term. 

EwiNG, James H, Co. E, 3d Infantry, page 122. 

Fagan, Joseph, Co. A, 23d Infantry; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1862 ; native of Iowa ; discharged at close of war. 

Fagan, Ezra B., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
27, 1864; native of Iowa; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Fales, Philetus, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; native of Maine ; discharged for promotion Sept. 4, 
1861. 

Farrington, Sireno S., Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 15, 1862; native of Ohio; sergeant; discharged at 
close of war. 

Fatland, Thor, Co. F, 47th Infantry, page 397. 

Fenn, E. Dwight, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; native of New York ; transferred to band Sej^t. 22, 
1861 ; mustered out at La Grange, Tenn., Nov. 22, 1862. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 477 

Fennestt, Thomas, Co. B, 15tli Infantry ; enlisted 
Oct. 8, 1861 ; native of Ireland; taken prisoner July 22, 
1864, at Atlanta, Ga. ; reenlisted as a veteran Feb. 1, 1864 ; 
discharged at close of war. 

Fenwick, William A., Co. I, o9th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 15, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Fenwick, James E., 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 4, 
1864; native of Indiana; served to close of war. 

Ferguson, John N., Co. D, 2d Infontry ; enlisted May 
27, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec. 27, 
1864; discharged at close of war. 

Ferguson, Hance, Co. B, 33d Infantry, page 344. 

Fessler, John, Co. B, loth Infantry; enlisted Nov. 
6, 1861; native of Germany; honorably discharged June, 
13, 1862. 

Filmer, John, Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 270. 

Filmer, Edward, Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 
11, 1864; nati^je of England; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Finan, John, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 15, 
1862; native of Massachusetts; first sergeant; taken 
prisoner in Tennessee Dec. 31, 1862 ; paroled; discharged 
with his regiment at close of war. 

Fink, John F., Co. B, 10th Infantry, page 184. 

Fink, Robert H., Co. E, 23d Infantry, page 318. 

Fink, William W., Co. E, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
11, 1862 ; native of Missouri ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Fisher, Jefferson K., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 15, 1861; native of Pennsylvania; reenlisted as a 
veteran Jan. 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Fisher, Isaac, Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 1, 
1861 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged June 7, 1862. 

Fisher, John, Co. B, 15th Infantry; enlisted Oct. 
2, 1861 ; native of Canada ; wounded Aug. 23, 1864, near 



478 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Atlanta, Ga., in the right hand ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Dec. 6, 1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Fisher, John S., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Nov. 
1, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; served three years. 

Fleming, John A., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4^ 

1861 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Fleming, Samuel, Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted Nov. 
6, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; honorably discharged 
June 18, 1862. 

Fleming, Edwin S., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
14, 1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at expiration of term. 

Fletcher, Gideon, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 170. 

Fletcher, Isaac, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 170. 

Flynt, James H., Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 15, 
,1861 ; native of New York; served three years. 

Foley, Thomas, 2d Battery; enlisted Aug. 1, 1861; 
native of Ireland. (Daniel Foley reported " died Dec. 18, 
1862, at Columbus, Ky., of measles.") 

Forbes, AYilliam B., Co. D, 7th Cavalry ;^enlisted March 
1, 1863 ; native of Canada West ; discharged with his regi- 
ment. 

Forbes, Francis H., Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
15, 1862 ; native of Indiana; honorably discharged Oct. 13, 
1863. 

FosDiCK, Leroy, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 12, 

1862 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Foster, Martin, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 15, 
'1861; native of Ohio; wounded March 7, 1862, at Pea 
Ridge, Ark., slightly in the breast ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Jan. 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Foster, Joel, Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 226. 

Foster, Samuel, Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 226. 

Foster, John, Co. I, 39th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 22, 
1862 ; native of Indiana; taken prisoner at Parker's Cross- 
Roads ; paroled ; taken prisoner at Allatoona, Ga., Oct. 5, 
1862 ; discharged at close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 479 

Foster, George W., Co. 1, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862; native of Kentucky; taken prisoner at Parker's 
Cross-Roads ; honorably discharged May 12, 1863. 

Foster, Lionel, Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted May 16, 
1864; native of Vermont ; sergeant; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

FousT, Henry, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted June 25, 
1863; native of Indiana; transferred May 1, 1864, to 
Veteran Reserve Corps. 

Fox, Charles, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 1, 
1861 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Feb. 26, 1862. 

Fox, Jacob, Co. G, 10th Infantry ; accredited to Des 
Moines ; age, forty-three ; native of North Carolina ; en- 
listed Sept. 1, 1862 ; died of disease on board of steamer 
City of Meynphis, Sept. 3, 1863. 

Fox, Columbus P., Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 
10, 1861 ; native of Ohio; taken prisoner July 22, 1864; 
in Andersonville seven months ; exchanged ; reenlisted as 
a veteran Jan. 5, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Fox, George W., Co. G, 23d Infantry, page 327. 

Fox, Franklin, 1st Battery; enlisted Jan. 4, 1864; 
native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Frazier, George S., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 28, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Frederick, Benjamin G., Co. 1, 18th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 16, 1862; native of Indiana; discharged at close of 
war. 

Frederick, Corwin B., Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 301. 

Freeman, Rial, Co. B, 17th Infantry ; enlisted Feb. 25, 
1864 ; native of North Carolina ; discharged (date and place 
not given). 

Freeman, Mahlon, Co. B, 17th Infantry, page 240. 

Fuller, John J., Co. D., 10th Infantry ; enlisted Jan. 
23, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Jan. 22, 
1863. 



480 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

FuLLERTON, John, Co. K, 17th Infantry; enlisted March 
6, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; wounded in the leg severely at 
luka; reenlisted as a veteran March 18, 1864; discharged 
at close of war. 

Gaddis, Cornelius S., Co. B, 39th Infantry, page 381. 

Gandy, Felix T., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 15, 
1861 ; promoted to fifth sergeant, from private, March 14, 
1862; native of Iowa; reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 5, 1864; 
commissioned Second Lieutenant June 24, 1865 ; mustered 
out with his regiment July 24, 1865. 

Garrett, Cyrus W., Co. M, 8th Cavalry; enlisted July 
18, 1863; native of Iowa; discharged at close of war. 

Gaston, AYilliam H., Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted 
May 16, 1864; native of Ohio ; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Geer, Welcome C, Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted May 
27, 1864; native of Connecticut; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Gentle, George, Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 155. 

GiFFORD, Joseph, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania; sergeant ; taken prisoner 
at Shady Grove, Tenn., Dec. 30, 1862 ; paroled ; discharged 
at close of war. 

Gill, John W., Co. K, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 1, 
1861 ; native of Virginia ; served three years. 

Gillett, Philip D., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; promoted to third corporal, from private, Oct. 3, 
1861 ; native of New York ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec. 31, 
1863 ; commissioned Second Lieutenant Nov. 10, 1864, 
from first sergeant ; wounded July 22, 1864, at Atlanta, Ga., 
severely ; discharged with his regiment July 12, 1865. 

Oilman, Milan A., 2d Battery ; enlisted March 21, 1864; 
native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

GiLROY, George, Co. H, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Feb. 
10, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; wounded Oct. 4, 1862, at Corinth, 
Miss.; discharged Jan. 2, 1863, for wounds. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 481 

GiPSON, William, M., Co. K, 17th Infantry, page 238. 

Godfrey, George L., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted as a 
private May 4, 1861; native of Vermont; from sergeant 
promoted to Second Lieutenant Dec. 5, 1861 ; wounded 
slightly at the siege of Fort Donelson ; promoted to First 
Lieutenant June 22, 1862; Adjutant 2d Iowa, June 1862; 
Major 1st Alabama Cavalry, Oct. 18, 1863 ; Lieutenant- 
Colonel of same, May 10, 1864; commanded the Cavalry 
in advance of 17th Army Corps in Sherman's march to 
Savannah ; the chief of staff for Kilpatrick ; bearer of dis- 
patches between Sherman and Johnston when the rebel 
army was surrendered ; took his regiment back across the 
mountains to Alabama from North Carolina ; mustered 
out at Huntsville, Ala., Oct. 26, 1865. 

GooDERELL, WiLLiAM H. H., Co. B, Ist Infantry ; en- 
listed April 18, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; wounded severely at 
Wilson's Creek ; enlisted in Co. B, loth Infantry, Feb. 1, 

1862 ; from private promoted to fourth corporal March 27, 
1862 ; fourth sergeant July 1, 1862 ; promoted to First 
Lieutenant Co. F Sept. 14, 1862 ; Captain Co. B June 5, 
1865 ; mustered out with his regiment July 24, 1865. 

GoODERELL, Mancel C, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted 
Jan. 29, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; sergeant ; at close of war 
commissioned Lieutenant in United States Navy. 

Goodrich, Arthur, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Illinois ; wounded in right leg, at Cor- 
inth, Oct. 3, 1862 ; served three years. 

GoRDNiER, John, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; native of New York ; wounded Feb. 15, 1862, at 
Fort Donelson, Tenn. ; served three years. 

Goss, SwiNFORD, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 15, 

1863 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 
GossARD, William, Co. D, 10th Infantry ; enlisted April 

1, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; wounded May 16, 1863, at Cham- 
pion Hills, Miss. ; served three years. 

31 



482 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Graham, Charles G., Co. — , 4th Cavalry ; enlisted Dec. 
20, 1861 ; native of New York ; transferred to Co. C Feb. 
24, 1862 ; promoted battalion saddle sergeant April 12, 
1862 ; served three years. 

Grant, George W., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 
11, 1864; native of Missouri ; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Graves, George C, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
30, 1861 ; native of Prussia ; commissioned Captain Aug. 
30, 1861 ; discharged at Davenport Oct. 3, 1864, on expira- 
tion of term of service. 

Gray, George B., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted March 
28, 1864, for three years ; native of Ohio ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Green, Luther T., Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 
12, 1861 ; native of New York; honorably discharged June 
16, 1862 ; enlisted in Co. I, 39th Infantry, Aug. 16, 1862; 
discharged Sept. 20, 1863, for disability. 

Greene, George W., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4 1861 ; native of IVIichigan ; honorably discharged April 

23, 1862. 

Greene, William Bradley, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; also 
Co. I, 18th Infantry, page 78. 

Greene, Charles W., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 15, 1861 ; native of Michigan ; wounded slightly in 
hand at Pea Ridge, March, 1862 ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Jan. 1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Greene, John Stanton, Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 225. 

Gregg, James C, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted July 24, 
1862 ; native of Kentucky ; commissioned Captain Sept. 
19 1862 ; resigned Nov. 25, 1862 ; reenlisted as a private 
in 1st Battery Dec. 26, 1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Gregg, Lawrence A., Co. C, 7th Infantry, page 164. 

Griffith, Selby S., Co. K, 17th Infantry; enlisted 
Feb. 7, 1862 ; native of Iowa ; honorably discharged at 
Jacinto, Miss., Sept. 2, 1862. 



INDEX AND RECORD. [483 

Griffith, Francis M., Co. D, 2d Cavalry; enlisted 
Aug. 2, 1862; native of Ohio; from sergeant, promoted 
to Second Lieutenant Feb. 2, 1864 ; to Captain July 4, 
1865 ; a veteran ; discharged with his regiment at close of 
war. 

Griffiths, Henry H., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 15, 1861; native of Pennsylvania; mustered in as 
Captain of Co. E, 4th Infantry, Aug. 8, 1861 ; transferred 
May 14, 1862, to command 1st Battery; mustered out Aug. 
17, 1864, on expiration of term of service. 

Griffiths, Joseph M., 39th Infantry ; commissioned 
Sept. 16, 1862, Major; native of Pennsylvania; wounded 
at Parker's Cross-Roads Dec. 31, 1862 ; promoted and 
commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel Oct. 6, 1864; commis- 
sioned Colonel May 12, 1865 ; mustered out with his regi- 
ment June 5, 1865. 

Grigsbt, George W., Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 274. 

Grimes, Nathaniel, 39th Infantry; recruit; enlisted 
Sept. 12, 1864, for one year (company unknown). 

Groom, A. S. R, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Grossnickle, Jonathan, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
May 14, 1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Groves, Eli, 2d Battery; enlisted Aug. 29, 1864; na- 
tive of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Groves, David, Co. H, 9th Cavalry ; enlisted Oct. 18, 
1863 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

GuLiCK, John, Co. K, 16th Infantry ; enlisted Feb. 25, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; wounded in left breast ; served 
three years. 

Guthrie, Michael, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 
15, 1861 ; native of Ireland ; served three years. 

Guthrie, John W., Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 216. 

Hader, Henry, Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 21, 
1861; native of Pennsylvania ; served three years. 



484 ' AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

HA.GUE, Joseph F., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
14, 1864; native of England ; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Hahnen, John, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 25, 
1861 ; native of Germany ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec. 6, 
1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Haines, Jonathan C, 23d Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted 
Jan. 4, 1864; native of Indiana (company unknown). 

Hall, Daniel, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; native of Vermont; promoted from second corporal 
to Second Lieutenant June 4, 1862 ; discharged Feb. 1, 
1864. 

Hall, Orrin M., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Halladay, Edvtard L., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; en- 
listed Aug. 2, 1862 ; native of New York ; served three 
years. 

Halterman, Jackson, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 9, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged 
Jan. 9, 1863. 

Hammer, Richard, Co. G, 23d Infantry, page 333. 

Hammon, William W., 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 5, 
1864 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Hammond, John R., Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; wounded May 22, 
1863, at Vicksburg, Miss. ; reenlisted as a veteran Feb. 
1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Hammond, Amos F., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; wounded May 26, 
1862, at Farmington, Miss., in scalp ; served three years. 

Hampton, William, Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 15, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Hanger, William J., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Indiana; honorably discharged 
March 20, 1863. 

Hanks, Jarvis, Co. B, 17th Infantry ; enlisted May 21, 



INDEX AND RECORD. 485 

1862 ; native of Illinois; wounded May 16, 1863, at Cham- 
pion Hills, Miss., in the hand ; served three years. 

Hanks, Dewitt, Co. B, 17th Infantry ; enlisted March 
10, 1862; native of Illinois; wounded May 16, 1863, at 
Champion Hills, slightly in the shoulder ; reenlisted as a 
veteran March 12, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Hanman, William W., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Dec. 12, 1861 ; honorably discharged at Jacinto, Miss., 
Sept. 8, 1862. 

Hanna, John G., Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; sergeant ; promoted to Fi»t 
Lieutenant Dec. 4, 1861 ; resigned June 26, 1862. 

Hanna, Cyrus G., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 

9, 1862; native of Missouri; discharged at close of war. 
Hanna, Simon B., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Dec. 

17, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; sergeant ; reenlisted as a 
veteran Feb. 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Hannankratt, Jacob F., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted 
Aug. 2, 1861 ; nJitive of Germany ; reenlisted as a veteran 
March 1, 1864; wounded Feb. 21, 1864, at West Point, 
Miss., in right hip ; discharged at close of war. 

Harber, Randolph F., Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 274. 

Harber, James C, Co. D, 16th Infantry ; enlisted Jan. 

10, 1862 ; native of Kentucky ; served three years. 
Hardin, James, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Nov. 1, 

1861 ; native of Iowa ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec. 6, 

1863 ; wounded near Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 23, 1864, in right 
arm ; discharged at close of war. 

Hardsaw, Daniel, Co. B, 17th Infantry, page 240. 

Hargis, Stephen M., Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 23, 1861; native of Indiana; sergeant; wounded 
May 22, 1863, at Vicksburg, Miss., in shoulder slightly ; 
reenlisted as a veteran Feb. 1, 1864 ; discharged at close 
of war. 

Harlan, Enoch, Co. G, 23d Infantry, page 332. 

Harlow, Lloyd, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 6, 
1862; native of Kentucky ; served three years. 



^86 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Harmison, Andrew, 1st Battery ; enlisted Aug. 20, 
1864 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of war. 

Harney, William J., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861; native of Ohio; sergeant; served three 
years. 

Harris, George N., 2d Battery ; enlisted Oct. 26, 1862 ; 
native of New York ; reen listed as a veteran March 22, 
1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Harrison, Alanson, Co. B, 39th Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 15, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged 
June 20, 1863. 

Harrison, Hudson, Co. B, 39th Infantry, page 356. 

Hartman, John, 2d Battery ; enlisted Aug. 30, 1862 ; 
native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Harvey, William R, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 290. 

Haskell, Joseph, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; native of Massachusetts ; honorably discharged at 
Pittsburg Landing April 2, 1862. 

Hastings, Thomas, Co. B, 17th Infantry; enlisted Feb. 
10, 1862 ; native of Wisconsin ; captured at Bray's Station, 
Tenn. ; wounded at Farmington, Miss., in the right knee ; 
served three years. 

Hatcher, Riley, Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 7, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Hathaway, Perry, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1861 ; native of Virginia; reenlisted as a veteran March 
1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Hawkins, Thomas L., 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 3, 1864 ; 
native of North Carolina ; discharged at close of war. 

Hawkins, Andrew J., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Indiana; served three years. 

Hayden, Joseph S., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861; native of Pennsylvania ; wounded Feb. 15, 1862, 
at Fort Donelson, Tenn., shot through the head ; dis- 
charged in consequence of wounds, June 30, 1862. 

Hayes, Martin V., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 487 

2, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran 
March 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Hates, J. K. P., Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
15, 1862 ; native of Missouri ; served three years. 

Hays, Jacob E., 39th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted May 

3, 1864, for three years. 

Hazen, Edward, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 
30, 1861 ; native of England; transferred to Co. C, 15th 
Infantry, Dec. 1, 1861 ; served three years. 

Heady, William J., Co. M, 8th Cavalry; enlisted 
July 8, 1863 ; native of Ohio ; taken prisoner Dec. 17, 
1864, at Florence, Tenn. ; exchanged ; discharged with 
regiment at close of war. 

Heart, Daniel B., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 
15, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged June 18, 
1862. 

Hellums, Frank M., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Jan. 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Helton, Henry H., Co. D, 2d Cavalry, page 405. 

Henderson, Joshua, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; discharged for epilepsy 
Feb. 3, 1862. 

Hendricks, S. D., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
15, 1862; native of Indiana; discharged at close of war. 

Hendrix, Martin B., 39th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted 
Feb. 29, 1864 ; native of Tennessee. 

Henkle, John S., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enhsted Aug. 
14, 1862; native of Indiana; honorably discharged June 
25, 1863. 

Henkle, Benjamin W., Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 283. 

Hepburn, Charles S., Co. A, 23d Infantry, page 253. 

Herbert, William, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 9, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Herring, William B., Co. F, 47th Infantry, page 389. 



488 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Hester, Levi R., Co. D, 16th Infantry, page 230. 

Hester, Stephen, Co. D, 16th Infantry; enlisted Oct. 
10, 1861 ; native of Indiana; reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 
5, 1864, and was then accredited to Webster Township, 
Webster County ; discharged at close of war. 

Hester, Francis M., Co. D, 16th Infantry; enlisted 
April 4, 1864 ; native of Mainland ; wounded in right 
shoulder, July 21, 1864, at Nicojack Creek, Ga. ; dis- 
charged Feb. 27, 1865, for wounds. 

Hewitt, Franklin E., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Dec. 4, 1863 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Hick, Alfred, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 15, 
1863 ; native of England ; discharged at close of war. 

Highland, Henry H., Co. B, 17th Infantry; enlisted 
March 10, 1862 ; native of Illinois ; wounded May 14, 
1863, at Jackson, Miss., in right arm ; reenlisted as a 
veteran March 24, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Highland, John W., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 11, 1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at expiration of 
term of enlistment. 

Hinman, Jeremiah, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted Nov. 
18, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; wounded severely at 
Pea Ridge March 7, 1862 ; discharged June 24, 1862, for 
wounds (name written also Herman). 

HoAGLAND, Theodore, Co. D, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted 
March 3, 1863 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged 
Jan. 9, 1865. 

HoAKE, Herman C, 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 4, 1864; 
native of New York ; discharged at close of war. 

HoBBs, Joshua, 1st Battery; enlisted Dec. 30, 1863; 
native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

HoLBROOK, Carlisle D., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
August 15, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; taken prisoner at Park- 
er's 'Cross- Roads ; paroled ; honorably discharged Nov. 5, 
1863. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 489 

HoLCOMBE, Jacob, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 15, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; taken prisoner Oct. 5, 
1864, at Allatoona, Ga. ; exchanged ; discharged at close 
of war. 

HoLLADAT, Elias, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 13, 1862; native of Indiana; discharged at close 
of war. 

HoLLiDAT, Solomon B., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 3, 1864; native of Iowa; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Holmes, Solomon, Co. D, 60th U. S. Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 24, 1863 ; native of Va. ; discharged with regiment 
Oct. 17, 1865. 

Hoover, Henry L, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; honorably discharged Feb. 
23, 1863. 

Hopkins, Josiah, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 

21, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; commissioned Second Lieuten- 
ant Sept. 24, 1861 ; resigned June 27, 1862 ; commissioned 
Major of 44th Infantry June 1, 1864 ; discharged with his 
regiment. 

Hopkins, John, 23d Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted March 

22, 1864, for three years; native of Indiana. 

Hopkins, Silas W., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 
11, 1864; native of Missouri; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Hopkins, Robert, Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 
11, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged with regiment. 

Horner, Jacob, Co. K, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 1, 
1861 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

HoRTON, James H., Co. M, 8th Cavalry, page 425. 

Houghton, Douglas S., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted 
May 4, 1861 ; native of New York; discharged by United 
States District Court as a minor, at St. Louis, Sept. 15, 
1861. 

HouK, James, Co. M, 8th Cavalry; enlisted July 7> 



490 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

1863 ; native of New York ; discharged with regiment, 
Aug. 13, 1865. 

HousEE, George L., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 
15, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 1, 
1864; discharged at close of war. 

Houston, William E., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted 
May 4, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; from private promoted 
to third sergeant March 1, 1862 ; wounded in the battle of 
Shiloh in head, April 6, 1862 ; commissioned Second Lieu- 
tenant Co. E, 23d Infantry, Sept. 9, 1862 ; First Lieuten- 
ant Nov. 11, 1862; Captain April 6, 1865; discharged 
with his regiment, July 25, 1865. 

Houston, Leonard B., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted 
May 4, 1861 ; native of Indiana; promoted to seventh cor- 
poral, from private, March 4, 1862 ; wounded slightly in 
ankle at Shiloh, April 6, 1862 ; commissioned Captain Co. 
A, 23d Infantry, Aug. 10, 1862 ; Major of regiment May 
19, 1863 ; wounded at Milliken's Bend, La., June 6, 1863 ; 
discharged with regiment at close of war. 

Houston, William L., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted 
Nov. 20, 1861 ; native of Illinois ; honorably discharged 
July 29, 1862. 

Houston, Lyman P., Co. A, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862; native of Illinois; sergeant; discharged at 
close of war. 

Houston, James M., Co. E, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted 
March 3, 1863 ; native of Illinois ; sergeant ; discharged 
with his regiment. 

Howard, Francis M., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862; native of Indiana; sergeant; honorably dis- 
charged June 16, 1863. 

Howard, Robert, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
9, 1863 ; native of Indiana ; sergeant ; discharged with 
his regiment at close of war. 

Howard, Israel H., Co. D, 2d Cavalry, page 402. 

Howard, Francis A., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 



^•, INDEX AND RECORD. 491 

Aug. 7, 1862 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Howard, William H., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 9, 1862 ; native of Illinois ; wounded May 17, 1863, 
at Black River Bridge, Miss. ; discharged with his regi- 
ment at close of war. 

Howard, Marion L., Co. C, 32d Infantry; enlisted 
March 16, 1864; native of Illinois; discharged at close of 
war. 

Howard, Francis A., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
March 12, 1864 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Howard, John, 1st Battery; enlisted Jan. 1, 1864 
native of Iowa ; discharged at close of war. 

Howard, George, 1st Battery, page 431. 

Howe, Ebenezer E., Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of New York; reenlisted as a vet- 
eran Feb. 1, 1864; commissioned First Lieutenant Jan. 4, 
1865, from first sergeant; Captain Aug. 7, 1865; dis- 
charged with regiment Aug. 15, 1865. 

Howell, Jesse, 39th Infantry; recruit; enlisted Oct. 
17, 1864; native of Indiana. 

Howland, Charles A., Co. B, 23d Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 5, 1862 ; native of Maine ; honorably discharged 
Sept. 6, 1864. 

HoxiE, William H., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Iowa ; from private promoted to Captain 
Co. B, 17th Infantry; resigned Nov. 25, 1862, on account 
of wounds received in battle of luka ; commissioned Cap- 
tain Co. M, 8th Cavalry, Sept. 30, 1863 ; wounded July 30, 
1864; discharged March 11, 1865. 

Hoy, Thomas, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 12, 
1862; native of Canada East; wounded May 16, 1863, at 
Champion Hills, severely in left arm ; transferred Dec. 29, 
1863, to Veteran Reserve Corps. 

Hudson, Charles H., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted 
Oct. 12, 1861 ; honorably discharged March 1, 1862. 



492 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Hudson, Thomas J., Co. G, 23d Infantry, page 335. 

Hudson, William T., Co. M, 8th Cavalry; enlisted 
June 15, 1863 ; native of Tennessee ; taken prisoner July 
10, 1864, at Newnan, Ga. ; exchanged; discharged with 
regiment Aug. 13, 1865. 

Hudson, Lewis, Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Feb. 6, 
1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Huggins, David, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 
1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Hughart, John B, Co. M, 8th Cavalry, page 426. 

HuGHART, Young A., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted^ 
July 25, 1863 ; native of Kentucky ; discharged with his 
regiment Aug. 15, 1865. 

Hull, John A. T., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted July 
24, 1862 ; native of Ohio; commissioned First Lieutenant 
Sept. 19, 1861; promoted to Captain Nov. 26, 1862; 
wounded in left leg May, 1863 ; discharged Nov. 5, 1863. 

Hume, William W., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1861 ; native of Indiana; served three years. 

Humphreys, William T., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted 
Aug. 2, 1861 ; native of Indiana; reenlisted as a veteran 
March 1, 1864; discharged with regiment Sept. 19, 1865. 

Hunt, William A., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 
15, 1861; native of Maryland ; wounded Nov. 24, 1863, 
at Missionary Ridge ; right arm amputated ; discharged 
Jan. 1864, on account of wounds. 

Hunt, Zaccheus, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted Dec. 
26, 1863, for three years; native of Illinois; discharged 
at close of war. 

Hunter, David, Jr., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
14, 1864; native of Pennsylvania; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

HuRBER, James S., Co. D, 16th Infantry; enlisted Jan. 
10, 1862 ; native of Kentucky ; served three years. 

Hurd, William P., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 12, 1862; native of Kentucky; taken prisoner at 



INDEX AND RECORD. 493 

Allatoona, Ga., Oct. 5, 1864 ; exchanged ; discharged with 
his regiment at close of war. 

Hurst, Anderson, Co. D, 2d Cavalry; enlisted Dec. 
31, 1863 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 

Huston, Za chary T., 23d Infantry; recruit; enlisted 
Jan. 4, 1864 ; native of Indiana. 

Hyatt, Elmer, 1st Battery; enlisted Dec. 25, 1863 
native of Ohio ; honorably discharged May 20, 1865. 

Hyland, Edmund, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
14, 1864 ; native of England ; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Ingersoll, Daniel W., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; transferred Dec. 29, 1863, 
to Veteran Reserve Corps. 

Ingraham, Joseph, 2d Battery ; enlisted Aug. 1, 1861 ; 
native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran March 23, 1864 ; 
discharo;ed at close of war. 

IvERs, Joseph, Co. K, 10th Infantry; enlisted Dec. 19, 
1861; native of Ohio; wounded May 16, 1863, at Cham- 
pion Hills, Miss., severely ; left leg amputated ; discharged 
Aug. 14, 1863, on account of wounds. 

Jack, George F., Co. I, 87th Ohio Infantry, page 441. 

James, John C, Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 152. 

James, Samuel H., Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 152. 

James, Elisha R., 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 4, 1863 ; 
native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Jameson, John Q., Co. E, 23d Infantry, page 316. 

Jeffries, Charles W., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 14, 1864; native of Iowa; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Jennings, Benjamin, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 7, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; commissioned Sec- 
ond Lieutenant August 21, 1862 ; promoted to Captain 



49-lj AMERICAN PATPwIOTISM. 

November 26, 186S; mustered out with his regiment July 
26, 1865. 

Jessup, Isaac, 4th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted Sept. 20, 
1862 ; native of Indiana. 

Jessup, Byron, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 6, 
1862 ; native of New York; taken prisoner Dec. 30, 1862, 
at Shady Grove, Tenn. ; paroled ; served till close of war. 

Jewett, John Q., Co. M, 4th Cavalry, page 414. 

Jewett, Joseph E., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1861; native of Vermont; promoted to Second Lieu- 
tenant Aug. 30, 1861 ; Major of 4th Cavalry Oct. 14, 1861 ; 
resigned Jan. 2, 1863. 

Johnson, Jonathan, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted 
Feb. 4, 1862 ; transferred to Co. H, 15th Infantry, March 
1, 1862 ; native of Iowa ; wounded at battle of Shiloh, 
Tenn., April 6, 1862, severely in the head and left arm ; 
discharged on account of wounds July 3, 1862. 

Johnson, John, Co. B, 17th Infantry ; enlisted March 
5, 1862 ; native of Kentucky ; honorably discharged Feb. 
9, 1863. 

Johnson, William P., Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 271. 

Johnson, David W., Co. C, 23d Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 9, 1862; native of Indiana; sergeant; honorably 
discharged at close of war. 

Johnson, John W., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 20, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Johnson, Benjamin T., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 11, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Feb. 
19, 1863. 

Johnson, George, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
22, 1862; native of Pennsylvania; discharged at close of 
war. 

Johnson, Delanah, Co. D, 2d Cavalry, page 406. 

Johnson, Jonathan, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 
5, 1863 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 495 

Johnson, Iven, Co. M, 8tb Cavalry ; enlisted July 15, 
1863 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 

Johnson, John, 1st Battery, page 432. 

Johnson, Arthur W., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 17, 1864; native of New York ; discharged at expi- 
ration of term. 

Johnson, Joel, 2d Battery; enlisted Feb. 19, 1864; 
native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Johnson, James F., Co. B, loth Infantry; recruit; 
enlisted March 22, 1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Jones, Asbury C, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; honorably discharged May 4, 
1862; reenlisted in 34th Infantry Dec. 20, 1863; dis- 
charged at close of war. 

Jones, Tarpley T., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Jones, Albert, Co. A, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
14, 1862 ; native of Illinois ; discharged with his regiment 
July 25, 1865. 

Jones, Emery, Co. E, 29th Infantry, page 336. 

Jones, Palestine, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
9, 1862; native of Indiana; sergeant; taken prisoner at 
Parker's Cross-Roads, Tenn., Dec. 30, 1862; paroled; dis- 
charged with his regiment at close of war. 

Jones, Andrew J., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
9, 1862 ; native of New Jersey ; discharged at close of war. 

Jones, Charles L., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
9, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Jones, Andrew J., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted March 
4, 1863 ; native of Missouri ; discharged with his regiment. 

JoNps, Benjamin S., Co. D, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted March 
4, 1862; native of Missouri; discharged with his regiment. 

Jones, Jacob H., Co. M, 8th Cavalry; enlisted June 15, 
1863 ; native of Indiana ; discharged with his regiment at 
close of war. 



496 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Jones, George W., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 

15, 1863 ; native of Indiana ; discharged with his regiment 
at close of war. 

Jones, Robert B., Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted Dec. 
21, 1861 ; native of Iowa ; discharged at close of war. 
Jones, George W., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 

16, 1864; native of Virginia; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Jones, James Wilson, Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted 
May 28, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged with his 
regiment. 

Jones, James M., 2d Battery ; enlisted March 30, 1864; 
native of New York ; discharged at close of war. 

Jones, John, 2d Battery, page 434. 

Jones, Albert M., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted March 
29, 1864; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Jones, Anderson, 2d Infantry; recruit; enlisted Jan. 
21, 1865 ; native of Kentucky. 

Jones, Daniel W., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; native of Indiana; honorably discharged Sept. 30, 
1862. 

Jordan, Henry C, Co. A, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
14, 1862; native of Missouri; discharged to accept an 
appointment as cadet at West Point, July, 1863. 

Journey, John H., Co. D, 23d Infantry, page 314. 

JuvENALL, John M., Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 285. 

Keaggy, William L., Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 13, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; sergeant ; wounded 
at battle of Parker's Cross-Roads, Dec. 30, 1862 ; trans- 
ferred April 1, 1865, to Veteran Reserve Corps. 

Keeler, Eli, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted June 22, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; promoted to quartermaster- 
sergeant ; commissioned Second Lieutenant July 10, 1864 ; 
discharged with his regiment Aug. 13, 1865. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 497 

Keeney, John, Co. B, 10th Infantry, page 190. 

Keeney, Thomas J., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Indiana; sergeant ; discharged with his 
regiment at close of war. 

Keeney, John W., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged with his regiment 
at close of war. 

Keeney, Joseph M., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; taken prisoner at Shady Grove, 
Tenn., Dec. 30, 1862. 

Keeney, Daniel T., Co. B, 39th Infantry, page 364. 

Kees, Thomas, Co. E, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 14, 

1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 
Kelley, Oliver Perry, Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 145. 
Kelley, John B., Co. M., 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 4, 

1863 ; native of Illinois ; taken prisoner Dec. 17, near 
Franklin, Tenn. ; served in regiment to close of war. 

Kellison, John D., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; sergeant ; wounded Oct. 4, 
1862, at Corinth, Miss., in the wrist ; served three years. 

Kelsey, Jacob R., Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 228. 

Kemp, Thomas G. J., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1861 ; native of New York ; served three years. 

Kenaston, James A., Co. H, 44th Infantry; enlisted 
May 11, 1864; njitive of Vermont; discharged with his 
regiment. 

Kenworthy, Steel, Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
23, 1861 ; native of Indiana; wounded May 16, 1863, at 
Champion Hills, Miss., in the side ; promoted First Lieu- 
tenant Nov. 26, 1863, from sergeant; served as a veteran 
until discharged with his regiment at Little Rock, Ark., 
Aug. 15, 1865. 

Kenworthy, Bruce, Co. B, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Sept. 28, 1861 (from Co. K) ; native of Indiana ; served 
three years. 

Kenworthy, F. D., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug 
32 



498 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

17, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; sergeant ; discharged with his 
regiment at close of war. 

Kerlin, J. M., 5th Cavalry, page 418. 

Kesler, Jacob, Co. E, 7th Cavalry, page 419. 

Kessler, William H., Co. F, 16th Infantry; enlisted 
Jan. 11, 1862; native of Ohio; honorably discharged Sept. 
12, 1862. 

Kessler, William, 1st Battery; enlisted Jan. 4, 1864 ; 
native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Key, William R., Co. D, 60th U. S. Infantry ; colored ; 
enlisted Aug. 26, 1863; native of District of Colupibia; 
discharged at close of war. 

KiMMONS, John, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 13, 
1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at expiration of term. 

King, Michael, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 15, 
1861; native of Ireland; wounded Dec. 29, 1862, at 
Chickasaw Bayou, Miss., in thigh severely ; transferred 
to Veteran Reserve Corps. 

KiNKENMAN, Nathan, 4th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted 
Sept. 16, 1862; native of Indiana. 

Kinsey, William A., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran ; discharged 
Dec. 19, 1863, to accept appointment in the navy. 

Kinsman, Oram, Co. G, 18th Infantry ; enlisted July 17, 
1862 ; native of Iowa ; discharged at close of war. 

KiRBY, Charles, 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 4, 1864 ; 
native of Kentucky ; discharged at close of war. 

Kirsher, John, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 13, 
1862 ; native of Pennsylvania; honorably discharged July 
25, 1863. 

Kirsher, Jasper, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 8, 
1862; native of Pennsylvania; transferred to Veteran 
Reserve Corps (date unknown). 

Kiser, Amos, Co. B, 17th Infantry, page 238. 
Knight, James T., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
20, 1863; native of Indiana ; wounded May 9, 1864, at 
Cassville, Ga. ; discharged at close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 499 

KooNS, Elijah, Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 281. 
KoozER, Daniel, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
16, 1864; native of Ohio; discharged with his regiment. 
Kratzer, Howard, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enh'sted Aug. 

14, 1862 ; native of Iowa; discharged at close of war. 
Krewson, Amos, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted July 

12, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; taken prisoner at Shady Grove, 
Tenn., Dec. 30, 1862 ; paroled ; discharged at close of war. 

Krowser, Moses W., Co. M, 8th Cavalry, page 426. 

KuNTz, John, 2d Battery, page 434. 

Kurtz, Gottlieb, 1st Battery; enlisted Jan. 4,1864;; 
native of Germany ; discharged at close of war. 

Kysar, William, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 298» 

Lacy, Henry D., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 

15, 1861 ; native of Vermont ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Jan- 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Laird, Madison R., Co. F, 16th Infantry, page 233. 

Lamb, John, Co. B, 18th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted 
Jan. 21, 1864 ; native of Indiana ; missing in action April 
18, 1864, at Poison Spring, Ark.; taken prisoner; ex- 
changed ; discharged with his regiment at close of war. 

Lamoreaux, Charles H., Co. D, 2d Infantry; enlisted 
May 4, 1861 ; native of Illinois ; served three years. 

Lang, Daniel R., Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 
18, 1861 ; native of Indiana; honorably discharged March 
11, 1863. 

Lanstrum, Christian E., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; en- 
listed Oct. 1, 1861 ; native of Sweden ; commissioned 
Second Lieutenant Nov. 9, 1861 ; First Lieutenant May 
24, 1863; Captain Jan. 19, 1863; mustered out May 16, 
1865, at expiration of term. 

Las ell, William J., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted Nov. ' 
27, 1861; native of Indiana; honorably discharged Feb. 
1, 1862. 

Lasell, Joseph W., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 



500 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Aug. 6, 1862 ; native of Indiana; discharged with the reg- 
iment July 25, 1865. 

Lawrence, Perry, 4th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted 
Sept. 1,6, 1862 ; native of Ohio. 

Lawson, Jacob, Co. I, 18th Infantry ; enlisted July 21, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Lee, John N., Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 15, 
1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Lee, Thomas, Co. D, 2d Cavalry; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; native of Indiana; reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 1, 
1864; discharged at close of war. 

Lee, Marshall, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
10, 1863 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Lee, Peter H., 2d Battery, page 435. 

Leftwick, Charles, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 12, 1862; native of Kentucky; sergeant; wounded 
Oct. 5, 1864, at Allatoona, Ga., through both thighs ; dis- 
charged with his regiment. 

Leftavick, Cornelius B., 39th Infantry ; recruit ; 
enlisted March 21, 1864 ; native of Iowa ; company not 
known. 

Leggett, John W., 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 4, 1864; 
native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Leonard, Lawrence, Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 277. 

Leonard, James G., Co. I, 39th Infantry, page 383. 

Leonard, Thomas R., Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 6, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; honorably discharged 
Feb. 23, 1864. 

Lester, George W., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted 
Oct. 8, 1861 ; native of Indiana; reenlisted as a veteran 
Feb. 23, 1864 : discharged with regiment July 24, 1865. 
Lewis, James, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 176. 
Lewis, John, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 15, 
1861 ; native of Indiana; reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 1, 
1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Lewis, James, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 14, 
1862 ; native of Iowa; discharged at close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 501 

Lewis, Thomas C, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1861 ; native of Indiana; served three years. 

Lewis, James, 4th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted Dec. 23, 
1863 ; native of Iowa. 

LiCKiNGTELLER, JONATHAN, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; 
enlisted Aug. 21, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; dis- 
charged at close of war. 

Lindsley, Robert, Co. E, 14th Infantry, page 210. 

Little, Lewis, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 21, 
1861 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Little, George M., Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted 
May 14, 1864; native of Ohio; discharged with his regi- 
ment at expiration of term. 

Lloyd, Calvin, Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 227. 

LoMAN, H., Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 15, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Looby, John H., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; native of Canada ; severely wounded in breast at 
Shiloh April 6, 1862 ; promoted to Second Lieutenant Co. 
G, 18th Infantry, Aug. 6, 1862 ; commissioned Captain 
Dec. 19, 1863 (not mustered) ; promoted to First Lieuten- 
ant 1st Mo. A. D. ; served to close of war. 

LoTT, John W., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted Nov. 20, 
1861 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec 23, 
1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

LouGHRAM, Edmond, Ist Battery ; enlisted Jan, 2, 1864 ; 
native of Ireland ; discharged at close of war. 

Love, William, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
11, 1862; native of Canada East; discharged at close of 
war. 

Low, Francis M., Co. B, 39th Infantry, page 364. 

Lowe, Carleton, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; promoted Second Lieutenant 2d 
Artillery, regular army, Nov. 13, 1861. 

Lucas, Francis M., Co. A, 23d Infantry ; enlisted July 
20, 1862; native of Indiana; honorably discharged Oct.. 
19, 1863. 



502 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Lucas, Daniel, Co. A, 23d Infantry; enlisted July 20, 
1862; native of Indiana; transferred May 21, 1864, to 
Veteran Reserve Corps. 

LuELLEN, Francis, Co. K, 32d Infantry, page 341. 

LuM, George, Co. D, 2d Cavalry; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; native of New York; sergeant; served three years. 

LuNT, Samuel H., Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 97. 

LuNT, Edward D., Co. B, loth Infantry; enlisted Oct. 
14, 1861 ; native of New York; sergeant; reenlisted as a 
veteran Dec. 6, 1863 ; taken prisoner near Atlanta, Ga., 
July 22d, 1864; exchanged; discharged with his regiment 
at close of war. 

LusBY, Robert, Co. K, 10th Infantry, page 202 

Lynch, Andrew, Co. F, 10th Infantry; enlisted March 
17, 1862 ; native of New York ; wounded May 22, 1863, 
at Yicksburg, Miss. ; served three years. 

Lynde, John, Co. D, 2d Infantry; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; native of Virginia; promoted commissary sergeant 
May 1, 1862; Second Lieutenant Sept. 23, 1862; resigned 
May 23, 1864. 

Lyon, George W., Co. D, 2d Infantry; enlisted May 
4, 1861; native of Iowa; promoted to hospital steward 
May 1, 1862 ; served three years. 

Lyon, Alfred M., Co. A, 23d Infantry, page 257. 

Lyon, Robert, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Nov. 6, 
1861 ; native of New York ; sergeant ; reenlisted as a 
veteran Jan. 5, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Lyon, Thomas W., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Feb. 
14, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Lyon, William D., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
7, 1862 ; native of Virginia ; discharged at close of war. 

Lyon, Joseph H., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1862; native of New York; wounded June 7, 1863, at 
Milliken's Bend, La., severely in the arm ; transferred to 
Veteran Reserve Corps April 30, 1864. 

Lyon, H. H., 2d Colorado ; promoted to 1st Lieutenant ; 
discharged at close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 503 

Lyon, Jonathan, 2d Nebraska ; sergeant ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Mack, Talbert S., 1st Battery ; enlisted Dec. 29, 
1863 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Madison, Andrew J., Co. B, 23d Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862; native of Indiana; transferred to Veteran 
Reserve Corps July 5, 1865. 

Manbeck, Isaiah, Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
23, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Manbeck, Henry, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; taken prisoner at Shady Grove, 
Tenn., Dec. 30, 1862 ; paroled ; wounded Oct. 5, 1864, at 
Allatoona, Ga., in the neck, slightly ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Manbeck, Elijah, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862; native of Ohio ; taken prisoner at Shady Grove, 
Tenn., Dec. 30, 1862; paroled; discharged with his regi- 
ment at close of war. 

Mardis, Samuel, Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 218. 

Markahan, Simon, Co. B, 39th Infantry; native of 
Ireland ; discharged at close of war. 

Marrs, John W., 1st Battery; enlisted Dec. 26, 1863 ; 
native of Tennessee ; wounded in action ; served to close 
of war. 

Marsh, Edward L., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of New York ; commissioned Second Lieu- 
tenant June 22, 1862 ; promoted to First Lieutenant June 
25, 1862 ; Captain Oct. 29, 1863; resigned May 23, 1864. 

Martin, Vincent S., Co. E, 23d Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 12, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; sergeant ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Martin, James, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 22, 
1862; native of Iowa; taken prisoner at Parker's Cross- 
Roads Dec. 31, 1862 ; paroled ; discharged at close of 
war. 



504 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Martin, William, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 
15, 1863; native of Illinois; discharged at close of war. 

Martin, David, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 17, 
1864 ; native of Iowa ; discharged at expiration of term. 

Mason, William B., Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 94. 

Mathias, James H., Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 222. 

Mattern, Jacob H., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 

4, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; honorably discharged March 

5, 1863. 

Mattern, William H., Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 307. 

Mattern, Winfield Scott, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted 
June 20, 1863 ; native of Pennsylvania ; taken prisoner at 
Newnan, Ga., July 30, 1864; discharged with his regiment 
Aug. 13, 1865. 

Mattern, Miles D., Co. F, 47th Infantry, page 393. 

Means, James M., Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Oct- 

28, 1861; native of Indiana; honorably discharged Oct. 

29, 1862. 

Means, Cornelius, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
18, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Meek, Reuben, Co. B, 15th Infantry; enlisted Jan. 31, 
1862 ; native of Indiana; wounded May 1, 1862 ; reenlisted 
as a veteran Jan. 1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Meekins, William P., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Virginia ; from private promoted 
Second Lieutenant July 1, 1862 ; reenlisted as a veteran ; 
discharged at close of war with his regiment. 

Melson, David, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 288. 

Melvin, Andrew J., Co. I, 39th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 
14,1862; native of North Carolina; honorably discharged 
Aug. 22, 1863. 

Mercer, William, Co. K, 17th Infantry ; enlisted March 
25, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Mercer, John, Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 283. 

Mercer, Edward W., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 



INDEX AND RECORD. 505 

Dec. 10, 1861; native of Ohio; reenlisted as a veteran 
Feb. 1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Merrill, William, Co. B, 17th Infantry ; enlisted Feb. 

10, 1862 ; native of Indiana; served three years. 
Merrill, William, Co. E, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 

12, 1862 ; native of Maine ; from sergeant-major promoted 
Second Lieutenant Aug. 12, 1862; promoted to Quarter- 
master July 25, 1863 ; discharged with his regiment. 

Merrill, Emery, Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 

11, 1864; native of Illinois; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Merrill, William, Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 
11, 1864; native of Illinois; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Metcalf, Warren, .Co. M, 8th Cavalry; enlisted July 
1, 1863; native of Illinois; sergeant; discharged at close 
of wac 

Met, Julius L., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 21, 
1862 ; native of Prussia ; discharged at close of war. 

Michael, Addison, Co. A, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted Feb. 
24, 1863; native of Virginia; discharged with his regiment. 

Miles, Josiah, Co. G, 10th Infantry; enlisted March 10, 
1862 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged at Jacinto, Miss., 
Sept. 12, 1862. 

Miles, Joseph, Co. G, 10th Infantry, page 196. 

Millard, Homer A., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
7, 1862 ; native of New York ; discharged at close of war. 

Millard, Henry J., Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 282. 

Miller, Jonathan R., Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Feb. 1, 1864; honorably discharged June 28, 1865, at 
David's Island, New York harbor. 

Miller, Henry A., Co. G, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 
1, 1862 ; native of Indiana; served three years. 

Miller, Jonathan G., Co. B, 23d Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 2, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of 
war. 



506 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM.' 

Miller, Ezra W., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1861 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of war. 

Miller, John D., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 
1862 ; native of Germany ; honorably discharged April 14, 
1863. 

Miller, Isaac, Co. I, 39th Infantry, page 383. 

Miller, James H., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted June 
28, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania; discharged at close of 
war. 

Mills, Noah Webster, Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 80. 

Mills, James W., Co. B, 39th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; taken prisoner at Shady 
Grove, Tenn., Dec. 30, 1862 ; paroled ; wounded severely 
May 16, 1864, at Calhoun, Ga. ; discharged Jan. 11, 1865, 
for wounds. 

Mills, John E., Co. B, 39th Infantry, page 378. 

Milton, John L., Co. E, 14th Infantry, page 211. 

Minnick, William H., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 11, 1864; native of Virginia ; sergeant; discharged 
at expiration of term. 

MiSHLER, Peter B, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 182. 

Mitchell, Orrin F., Co. M, 8th Cavalry, page 421. 

Mitchell, Edwin, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of New Hampshire; sergeant; honorably 
discharged July 16, 1861. 

Mitchell, Henry S., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 16, 1864; native of Ohio; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Mitchell, William B., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 16, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

MoDLiN, Elias, Co. K, 32d Infantry, page 339. 

Moles, Jacob M., Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 75. 

Monroe, Samuel, 2d Cavalry ; recruit; enlisted Jan. 4, 
1864 ; native of Ohio. 

Montgomery, Theodore G., Co. G, 23d Infantry ; en- 



INDEX AND RECORD. 507 

listed Aug. 15, 1862; native of Indiana; discharged at 
close of war. 

Moon, Jacob B., Co. G, 23d Infantry, page 333. 

Moon, Joseph H., Co. D, 2d Cavalry, page 406. 

Moore, James A., Co. E, 4tli Infantry, page 138. 

Moore, Daniel, Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 1, 
1862 ; native of Iowa ; served three years. 

Moore, Thomas K., Co. F, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
March 17, 1862; native of New York; wounded Nov. 25, 
1863, at Missionary Ridge, Tenn., in the head; discharged 
at expiration of term. 

Moore, John W., Co. E, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 

15, 1862 ; native of Ohio; discharged at close of war. 
Moore, William R., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 

May 11, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

More, Anderson, 4th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted Sept. 

16, 1862^; native of Illinois. 

Morehead, Jacob, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Morel and, Henry, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 
1, 1861 ; native of England ; first sergeant ; wounded 
severely in tbe head at Shiloh ; discharged at St. Louis 
Nov. 1, 1862, for wounds ; commissioned First Lieutenant 
of Co. M, 8th Iowa Cavalry, Sept. 30, 1863 ; taken prisoner 
at Newnan, Ga., July 30, 1864; commissioned Captain 
March 12, 1865; discharged with his regiment at Macon, 
Ga., Aug. 13, 1865. 

Morgan, Anson D., Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 222. 

Morgan, Frank P., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
16, 1864 ; native of New York ; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Morris, Solomon, Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
15, 1862 ; native of Indiana; transferred April 1, 1864, at 
Fort Esperanza, Texas, to Veteran Reserve Corps. 

Morris, Perry, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 



508 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

7, 1862; native of Indiana; discharged at close of 
war. 

Morris, John, Co. I, 39th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 8, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 
MosGROVE, William, Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 268. 
Hosier, Oliver 0., 10th Infantry, page 200. 
Hosier, Cross 0., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Dec. 

10, 1861 ; native of Iowa; taken prisoner Oct. 9, 1863, at 
Brownsville, Miss. ; in rebel prisons until near the close of 
the war ; exchanged and honorably discharged. 

MoTT, James A., Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 145. 

MoTT, David B., Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted Hay 
17, 1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at expiration of term. 

HouNTATN, Wesley, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted June 
28, 1863 ; native of Indiana ; taken prisoner at Newnan, 
Ga., July 30, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Murphy, James, 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 4 1864 ; 
native of New York ; discharged at close of war. 

Murphy, John, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Murray, Caswell, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 168. 

Murray, Andrew, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 180. 

Murray, Thomas, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 180. 

Hurray, Larkin, Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted Sept. 

11, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at expiration of 
three years. 

Hyerhofp, Herman T., 1st Battery, page 432. 

Hyers, Isaac, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 12, 
1862; native of Ohio; taken prisoner at Parker's Cross- 
Roads Dec. 30, 1862 ; discharged at close of war. 

Hyers, Andrew J., Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 

12, 1862 ; native of Ohio; discharged at close of war. 
Hyers, Asahel W., Co. H, 22d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 

8, 1863 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 
Hyers, Cassius H., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Feb. 

3, 1865 ; native of Iowa ; discharged at close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 509 

McCain, William S., Co. A, 23d Infantry; enlisted 
July 20, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; discharged at close 
of war. 

McCain, George D., Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted 
May 16, 1864 ; native of Indiana; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

McCall, Thomas H., Co. M, 8th Cavalry, page 425. 
McCalla, Nathaniel, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Kentucky ; commissioned Cap- 
tain Sept. 24, 1861 ; Major Jan. 25, 1862 ; wounded in 
shoulder in battle of Missionary Ridge, Tenn., Nov. 25, 
1863 ; honorably discharged Dec. 27, 1864. 

McCarty, Felix, Co. H, 47th Infantry, page 397. 
McCauley, James, Co. B, 15tli Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 
11, 1861 ; native of Illinois ; served three years. 

McCauley, Charles H., Co. B, 2od Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862 ; native of New York ; discharged at close 
of war. 

McClain, William A., Co. G, 2d Nebraska, page 440. 
McClelland, John L., Co. F, 47th Infantry, page 
391. 

McClure, John O., Co. B, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Sept. 6, 1861 ; native of Indiana; wounded May 16, 1863, 
at Champion Hills, Miss., severely in right arm ; sergeant ; 
reenlisted as a veteran Feb. 1, 1864 ; discharged at close 
of war 

McClure, George M., Co. B, 39th Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 15, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Mc Coll am, Isaac, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec. 18, 
1863 ; discharged with his regiment July 12, 1865. 

McConnell, Benjamin I., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; en- 
listed May 14, 1865; native of Indiana; discharged at 
expiration of term. * 

McConnell, Oscar, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 



510 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

May 14, 1864; native of New York; discharged at expi- 
ration of term. 

McCoy, William J., Co. G, 18th Infantry, page 242. 

McCrary, Alvin J., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 13, 1864; native of Iowa; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

McCready, William, Co. K, 17th Infantry; enlisted 
March 2, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged 
Sept. 2, 1862. 

McCready, Martin F., Co. K, 17th Infantry; enlisted 
March 6, 1862; native of Ohio'; wounded May 16, 1863, 
at Champion Hills, severely in the side ; discharged at 
close of war. 

McCuLLOCH, C. H., Co. B, 17th Infantry; enlisted 
Feb. 26, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of 
war. 

McCuLLOUGH, James P., Co. C, 22d Infantry, page 
249. 

Mc Curdy, Andrew, Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted 
May 8, 1864 ; native of Ohio; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Mc Curdy, Alfred, 39th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted 
May 3, 1864; native of Iowa; company unknown. 

McDonnell, Michael, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 12, 1864; native of Ohio; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

McDowell, Elliott, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861; native of Indiana; wounded May 22, 
1863, at Yicksburg, severely in right hip ; reenlisted as a 
veteran Feb. 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

McDowell, Palmer, Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Oct. 1, 1861; native of Indiana; reenlisted as a veteran 
Feb. 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

McDowell, Thomas, Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 282. 

McDoavell, Michael, Co. C, 23d Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 0, 1862 ; native of Ireland ; honorably discharged 
Jan. 31, 1863 (name also written McDonnell). 



INDEX AND RECORD. 511 

McFee, John H., Co. E, 4th Infantry; enlisted Nov. 
18, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania; transferred Jan. 1864, 
at Woodville, Ala., to Veteran Reserve Corps. 

McGoRRiSK, Edward J., 17th Infantry; native of 
Ireland ; commissioned Assistant Surgeon March 25, 
1862 ; Surgeon 42d Infantry Nov. 5, 1862 ; Surgeon of 
9th Infantry Jan. 24, 1863 ; mustered out with regiment 
July 18, 1865. 

McIntire, William K., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 7, 1862 ; native of Missouri ; honorably discharged 
Feb. 26, 1863. 

McIntire, James, Co. D, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted April 
18, 1863 ; native of Missouri ; discharged with his regi- 
ment. 

McKean, Cornelius, Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 163. 

McKelorge, Hugh, 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 4, 1864 ; 
native of Ireland ; discharged at close of war. 

McKelvogue, John, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Ireland ; honorably discharged Feb. 6, 
1862. 

McKtnney, William B., Co. D, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Feb. 11, 1862; native of Indiana; wounded May 16, 
1863, at Champion Hills, Miss., in the left shoulder and 
arm ; reenlisted as a veteran Feb. 11, 1864 (accredited 
also to Jasper County) ; discharged at close of war. 

McMiCHAEL, William, 1st Battery, page 431. 

McNuLTY, Robert, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 
15, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 
1, 1864; wounded Aug. 1, 1864, at Kenesaw Mountain, 
Ga., severely in left fore-arm ; discharged Jan. 2, 1865, on 
account of wounds. 

McQueen, William A., Co. I, 39th Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 16, 1862 ; native of Illinois ; sergeant ; discharged at 
close of war. 

McQuiSTON, David S., Co. E, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; discharged at 
close of war. 



512 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

McRoBERTS, John, Co. K, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
March 10, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a vet- 
eran March 12, 1864; native of Indiana ; discharged at 
close of war. ^ 

Nagle, John N., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861; native of Ohio; wounded in the foot at Donelson 
Feb. 15, 1862 ; discharged for wounds July 11, 1862. 

Nagle, Thomas, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted Nov. 21, 
1861 ; native of Ohio ; sergeant ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Dec. 18, 1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Nagle, Webster, 1st Battery ; enlisted Dec. 31, 1863 ; 
native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Napper, Renard, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
7, 1862 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 

Needham, James M., Co. E, 4tlf Infantry, page 139. 

Needham, Melvin I., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted 
Sept. 4, 1862 ; native of New Hampshire ; wounded Dec. 
5, 1862, at Oxford, Miss., in breast, and died of wound. 

Nelson, Thor, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1862 ; native of Norway ; discharged at close of war. 

Newell, Andrew J., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted 
Nov. 18, 1861 ; native of Ohio; served three years. 

Newell, Isaiah, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 
6, 1863 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Newland, Jasper N., Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 219. 

Nicholas, George M., Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 272. 

Nicholas, James, 89th Illinois, page 438. 

Nicholas, John W., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 4, 1864; native of Ohio; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Nichols, Thomas R., Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 22, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; taken prisoner at Parker's 
Cross-Roads ; paroled ; honorably discharged May 21, 
1863. 

Nicholson, William, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted 



INDEX AND RECORD. 513 

July 3, I860 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of 
war. 

NiMS, Albert H., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; native of New York; wounded Feb. 15, 1862, at 
Fort Donelson, Tenn. ; served three years. 

Noel, Samuel, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 
1861 ; native of Indiana ; promoted to Second Lieutenant, 
from first sergeant, Oct. 29, 1861 ; resigned June 3, 1862. 

Noel, Perry G., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted July 
24, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; v/ounded slightly at Donel- 
son Feb. 15, 1862 ; served three years. 

North, George J., Co. F, 47th Infantry; native of 
New York ; enlisted April 29, 1864, as a private ; elected 
Captain; commissioned Major 47 th Infantry June 4,1864; 
discharged with his regiment. 

Nosler, James M., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Nosler, William H., Co. D, 2d Cavalry; enlisted 
Aug. 2, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; taken prisoner May 28, 
1863 ; reenlisted as a veteran March 1, 1864 ; discharge 
at close of war. 

NussBAUM, Martin V., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861; native of Ohio; honorably discharged 
Feb. 25, 1863. 

NussBAUM, Isaac Z., Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 177. 

NussBAUM, John L., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

NussBAUM, Benjamin F., Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 
272. 

O'Bleness, James, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 292. 

O'Kee, Joseph L., Co. G, 23d Infantry; enlisted Aug. 
15, 1862 ; native of England; discharged at close of war. 

Or WIG, Benjamin M., Battery E, 1st Pennsylvania 
Artillery, page 444. 

Osborn, Philip, Co. F, 4th Infantry; enlisted Sept. 16? 



514 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

1862 ; native of Virginia ; died Feb. 22, 1863, at Young's 
Point, La.^ of disease ; age, 42. 

OsTERHAUs, Norton, Co. G, 31st Infantry ; enlisted 
Sept. 26, 1864; native of Ohio; discharged at close of 
war. 

Otteson, Calvin, Co. G, 23d Infantry; enlisted Nov. 
21, 1864 ; native of Wisconsin ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Otteson, John, Co. G, 2od Infantry ; enlisted Feb. 6, 
1864 ; native of Wisconsin ; discharged at close of war. 

Overmier, Amos, Co. B, loth Infantry; enlisted Jan. 
20, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; sergeant ; wounded May 1, 
1862 ; taken prisoner July 22, 1864, near Atlanta, Ga. ; 
paroled ; served three years. 

Overton, Robert, Co. B, 10th Infantry, page 189. 

Owens, Henry, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
9, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Owens, Thomas J., Co H, 9th Cavalry ; enlisted Nov. 
25, 1863 ; native of Ohio; discharged with his regiment. 

Painter, Joshua C, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted 
May 4, 1861 ; native of New York ; served three years. 

Palmer, Lewis H., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Delaware ; reenlisted as a vet- 
eran Feb. 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Parker, William, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted June 
1, 1863 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of war. 

Parker, James M., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Jan. 
5, 1864 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 

Parker, Moses J. H., Co. A, 15th Infantry, page 229. 

Pattee, David J., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted as a 
private May 12, 1864; native of Vermont; promoted to 
Captain June 4, 1864 ; discharged with his regiment. 
(Captain Pattee had served one year in 9th Vermont 
Infantry ; enlisted as a private ; promoted to Captain, and 
to commissary sergeant.) 



INDEX AND RECORD. 515 

Patterson, Thomas, Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of New York ; served three years. 

Patterson, William A., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enb'sted 
Aug. 7, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; commissioned Second 
Lieutenant Nov. 24, 1862 ; resigned July 19, 1864. 

Payne, John, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 14, 

1861 ; native of Ohio ; wounded severely in the shoulder 
at the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862 ; served three years. 

Payne, James P, 1st Battery; enlisted Dec. 21, 1863; 
native of Illinois ; discharored at close of war. 

Pearson, John W., Co. E, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 12, 1862 ; native of Iowa ; discharged at close of war. 

Pearson, Nathan H., Co. K, 32d Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 22, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Pearson, Samuel H., Co. K, 32d Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 22, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; taken prisoner April 
9, 1864, at Pleasant Hill, La. ; exchanged ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Peet, Edward W., Co. F, 47th Infantry, page 394. 

Peet, Henry J., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
19, 1864 ; native of New Jersey ; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Peirson, Ephraim, Co. B, 10th Infantry, page 193. 

Perry, John, Co. I, 39th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 15, 

1862 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Jan. 21, 1863. 
Phelps, F'ranklin P., Co. B, 17th Infantry; enlisted 

Jan. 26, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; honorably dis- 
charged Oct. 21, 1862 ; reenlisted in Co. M, 8th Cavalry, 
June 1,1863; promoted commissary sergeant ; discharged 
July 19, 1865, for disability. 

PiiiLLippiE, Christopher, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 15, 1861 ; native of Virginia; served three years. 

Phillips, Lewis F., 2d Battery ; enlisted Aug. 1, 1861 ; 
native of Ohio; reenlisted as a veteran March 23, 1864; 
discharged at close of war. 



516 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Pierce, Thomas J., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Missouri ; honorably discharged 
Nov. 15, 1863. 

Pierce, Elijah L., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Missouri ; honorably discharged 
Dec. 5, 1862 ; reenlisted in Co. H, 44th Infantry, May 11, 
1864 ; discharged at expiration of term. 

Pierce, Lazarus, 16th Infantry (company unknown) ; 
recruit; enlisted Jan. 5, 1864; native of North Carolina. 

Pierce, Thomas G., 16th Infantry (company unknown) ; 
recruit ; enlisted Dec. 31, 1863 ; native of Missouri. 

Pierce, Thomas J., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 11, 1864; native of Missouri ; sergeant; discharged 
at expiration of term. 

Pierce, Thomas P., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 12, 1864 ; native of Missouri ; sergeant ; discharged 
at expiration of term. 

Pierce, William B., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 12, 1864; native of Missouri ; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

Pierce, Andrew, Co. K, 16th Infantry; enlisted Feb. 
5, 1862 ; native of Kentucky ; discharged at Corinth, 
Miss, (date unknown). 

Pike, Andrew E.., Co. D, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 
3, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Plummer, Asa L., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 
15, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Polk, Ira L., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 21, 
1861 ; native of Indiana ; sergeant ; reenlisted as a veteran 
March 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Pollock, Robert R., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Auo-. 21, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Pollock, John N., Co. F, 23d Infantry, page 325. 

Porter, John, Co. E, 23d Infantry; enlisted Aug. 12, 
1862 ; native of Ohio ; wounded June 7, 1863, at Milli- 
ken's Bend, La. — right thumb shot off; transferred to 
Veteran Reserve Corps Sept. 1, 1863. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 51T 

Porter, Rezin, Co. D, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted April 4, 
1863 ; native of Ohio ; discharged with his regiment. 

Powers, John G., Co. G, 23d Infontry ; enlisted Aug. 
15, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Powers, James F., Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 15, 1862 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of 
war. 

Powers, Jonathan W., Co. G, 23d Infantry, page 333. 

Pratt, Alfred, Co. D, 60th U. S. Infantry, page 399. 

Preston, John C, Co. E, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 22, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; taken prisoner at 
Shady Grove, Tenn., Dec. 30, 1862 ; paroled ; taken pris- 
oner Oct. 5. 1864, at AUatoona, Ga. ; exchanged; dis- 
charged at close of war. 

Preston, Alonzo C, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Jan. 4, 
1864; native of Iowa (company unknown). 

Price, John, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 

1861 ; native of Ohio ; wounded slightly at Shiloh ; reen- 
listed as a veteran Dec. 23, 1863 ; wounded Aug. 4, 1864, 
near Atlanta ; discharged at close of war. 

Price, Henry M., Co. G, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 
1, 1862 ; native of Kentucky ; drowned April 23, 1863, at 
Millikens Bend^ La. 

Pricer, William, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Pritchard, William, Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 155. 

Pritchard, John, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 

1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 
Pruntz, David M., Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted 

May 28, 1864 ; native of Iowa ; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

PuRDY, William H., 10th Infantry; enlisted Oct. 1, 
1861 ; native of New York ; chief musician ; mustered out 
with band Feb. 26, 1862. 

PuRSLEY, William H., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted 
Oct. 5, 1861 ; native of Ohio; transferred to Co. B, 17th 
Infantry, March 1, 1862 ; discharged at close of war. 



518 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Ragan, William, Co. D, 2d Infiintry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; sergeant ; severely 
wounded in thigh Feb. 15, 1862, at Donelson, in battle ; 
promoted to First Lieutenant Co. I, 18th Infantry, Aug. 

6, 1862 ; Major 18th Infantry, May 12, 1865 ; discharged 
Oct. 3, 1865. 

Ragan, David S., Co. B, 17th Infantry ; enlisted 
March 22, 1862; native of Pennsylvania ; served three 
years. 

Ramsey, James W., 34th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted 
Jan. 4, 1864; native of Iowa (company unknown). 

Ramsey, Martin K., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 

7, 1862 ; native of Vermont ; discharged at close of war. 
Rankin, Robert, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Oct. 11, 

1861 ; native of Scotland ; sergeant ; served three years. 
Rawson, Charles H., 5th Infantry ; commissioned 

Surgeon July 15, 1861 ; native of Vermont ; resigned 
April 16, 1862. 

Ray, Isaac, 4th Infantry; recruit; enlisted Sept. 16, 

1862 ; native of Indiana (company unknown). 
Rayger, Thomas, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 

18, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; wounded July 21, 
1864, near Atlanta, Ga., slightly in the arm ; discharged at 
end of three years. 

Raynolds, Lewis F., 2d Battery; enlisted Aug. 11, 
1861 ; native of Ohio ; first sergeant ; transferred Aug. 
1863, at Vicksburg, Miss., for promotion to Captain 6th 
Mississippi Infantry, A. D. 

Redman, J. F., Co. K, 16th Infantry, page 237. 

Redmond, Asa, Co. A, 48th Infantry ; enlisted June 
4, 1864 ; native of Pennsylvania ; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Reed, Simon, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 21, 
1851 ; native of Canada East ; served three years. 

Reed, Thomas H., Co. B, 10th Infantry, page 189. 

Reed, William, Co. G, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 519 

25, 1862; native of Ohio; wounded May 16, 1863, at 
Champion Hills, Miss., slightly in the arm ; served three 
years. 

Reed, Donovan, Co. G, 10th Infantry ; enlisted March 
10, 1862; native of Ohio; wounded Oct. 4, 1862, at 
Corinth, Miss., in battle ; died Nov. 4, 1862, at Mound City, 
ML, of ivounds. 

Reed, Andrew W., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted Dec. 
21, 1863 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Reed, Samuel, 2d Battery; enhsted Feb. 19, 1864; 
native of New York ; discharged at close of war. 

Reed, William, 2d Battery ; enlisted Feb. 19, 1864 ; 
native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Reeder, Robert F., 1st Battery, page 433. 

Reeder, William H., 1st Battery ; enlisted March 21, 
1864; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Rees, George L., Co. B, loth Infantry, page 224. 

Rees, James F., Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
15, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Rees, Samuel T., Co. B, 17th Infantry ; enlisted (date 
unknown) ; native of Pennsylvania ; promoted to Second 
Lieutenant April 18, 1862, from private ; resigned June 
20, 1862. 

Renuff, Benjamin, Co. F., 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
March 18, 1862 ; native of New York ; died Aug. 11, 1863, 
at 3IillikerCs Bend, La., of disease, aged 28. 

Replogle, John L., Co. G, 10th Infantry, page 198. 

Rhinehart, Oliver P., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862; native of Ohio ; sergeant: discharged at 
close of war. 

Rhinehart, George L., 4th Battery ; enlisted March 
7, 1865 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Rhoades, John W., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 

2, 1863; native of Ohio; honorably discharged July 10, 
1865. 

Rhodes, Hiram, Co. D, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 

3, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 



620 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Richards, Davis, Co. A, lOtb Infantry; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1861 ; native of Indiana : reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 
1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Richards, Jonathan, Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 11, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

Richardson, Edwin, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Vermont ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Feb. 1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

RiCKABAUGH, WiLSON, Co. B, 17th Infantry, page 239. 

RiCKABAUGH, Perry, Co. D, 2d Cavalry, page 406. 

Riddle, William, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; severely wounded in the 
thigh at Shiloh April 6, 1862; reenlisted as a veteran 
Dec. 23, 1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Riley, George, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 9, 
1862 ; native of Wisconsin; discharged at close of war. 

Ring, Edward, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; native of Ireland ; reenlisted as a veteran March 1, 
1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

RisoN, Baily, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 7, 
1862 ; native of Ohio ; transferred, July 1, 1864, to Vet- 
eran Reserve Corps. 

Rittgers, Peter M., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 12, 1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Rittgers, John H., Co. H, 44th Infantry, page 385. 

Roach, James P., Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
15, 1862 ; native of Tennessee ; conmiissioned Captain 
Sept. 19, 1862 ; resigned April 10, 1863 ; reenlisted as a 
private in Co. F, 47th Infantry, May 28, 1864 ; promoted 
to Chaplain July 21, 1864 ; mustered out with the regi- 
ment. 

RoBBiNs, James Edwin, Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 96. 

Roberts, Abel W., 2d Battery; enlisted Oct. 1, 1862; 
native of Iowa ; served three years. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 521 

EoBiNSON, Augustus R., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 15, 1861; native of Pennsylvania; first sergeant; 
reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 25, 1864; transferred Feb. 21, 
1865, to 2d U. S. Volunteers, as Second Lieutenant; dis- 
charged at close of war. 

Robinson, Gabriel, Co. D, 60th U. S. Infantry, page 
398. 

Robinson, Stewart S., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; wounded May 17, 
1863, at Black River Bridge, Miss. ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Robinson, Smith C, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 287. 

Robinson, Thomas J., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted 
July 3, 1863 ; native of Ohio; discharged at close of war. 

Robinson, Lorenzo L., Co. F, 47th Infantry, page 396. 

Roe, John, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aifg. 21, 
1861 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Rohr, Robert IL, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1861; native of Indiana; wounded May 22, 1863, at 
Vicksburg, Miss., severely in right shoulder ; served three 
years. 

Rohr, Silas, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 21, 
1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran Feb. 1, 
1864; discharged at close of war. 

Rohr, Jacob, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 11, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Rollins, Millard F., Co. F, 47th Infantry, page 390. 

RoMMOL, Henry A., Co. K, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Sept. 24, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Rooker, William D., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted 
Aug. 2, 1861 ; native of Indiana; reenlisted as a veteran 
March 1, 1864; wounded Dec. 15, 1864, at Nashville, 
Tenn., severely ; discharged at close of war. 

Rooker, James, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; native of Indiana; reenlisted as a veteran March 
1, 1864 ; wounded December, 1864, at Little Harpeth, 



522 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Tenn. — both eyes shot out ; discharged June 21, 1865, at 
Keokuk. 

Roper, George W., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted 
Oct. 14, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Nov. 
5, 1862. 

Roper, John E., Co. D, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted March 

14, 1863 ; native of Ohio ; discharged with his regiment. 
RosECRANS, John M., Co. E, 23d Infantry, page 321. 
Ross, Richard W., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 

15, 1862; native of Indiana; sergeant; commissioned 
Second Lieutenant Jan. 30, 1863 ; resigned Sept. 29, 1864. 

Ross, John, Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 22, 
1862; native of Ohio; sergeant; honorably discharged 
Jan. 12, 1863; commissioned Lieutenant in regular army. 

Rule, John T., Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 182. 

RuNYAN, Oreson J., Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862; native of Indiana; discharged at close of war. 

Rush, Austin B., Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 93. 

Rush, William D., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
22, 1862; native of Pennsylvania; discharged at close of 
war. 

Russell, John R., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran Feb. 
1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Russell, Edwin C, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 15, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Rutherford, John, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Sept. 6, 1862; native of Tennessee ; wounded May 16, 
1863, at Champion Hills, Miss., in hand ; reenlisted as a 
veteran Feb. 1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Rutherford, John, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 14,1864; native of Tennessee; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

Salisbury, James O., Co. H, 9th Cavalry, page 428. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 523 

Sampson, William C, Co. F, 47th Infantry, page 396. 

Sanford, Abraham, Co. K, 17th Infantry ; enlisted 
March 25, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged 
July 12, 1862. 

Sanford, William B., Co. I, 39th Infantry, page 383. 

Sanford, George A., Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 12, 1862 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of 
war. 

Sanford, Abraham, Co. D, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted April 

15, 1863 ; native of Indiana ; discharged with his regiment. 
Satlor, William A., Co. A, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 

Aug. 1, 1862 ; native of Iowa ; sergeant ; honorably dis- 
charged Jan. 6, 1863. 

Saylor, James A., Co. A, 23d Infantry, page 260. 

Saylor, John B., 23d Infantry, page 260. 

Saylor, John Q. A., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1862; native of Iowa; honorably discharged Feb. 28, 
1863. 

Saylor, Thomas J., Co. E, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; sergeant; discharged at close 
of war, with his regiment. 

ScARBROUGH, James, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 299. 

ScARBROUGH, Martin, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 28, 1864; native of Pennsylvania; discharged at ex- 
piration of term. 

Schoonover, Randolph, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 15, 1862; native of Virginia ; honorably discharged 
April 19, 1863. * 

Scott, Erastus, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 

1861 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged April 18, 

1862 ; reenlisted in Co. I, 39th Infantry, Aug. 22, 1862 ; 
dischargred at close of war. 

Scott, Andrew, 1st Battery ; enlisted Aug. 20, 1864 ; 
native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Scott, John W., 4th Infantry ; recruit ; enlisted Sept. 

16, 1862 ; native of Kentucky (company not known). 



524 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

ScuDDER, John M., Co. K, lOtli Infantry; enlisted Sept. 
18, 1861 ; native of New Jersey ; honorably discharged 
Sept. 17, 1862. 

Seldon, William, 1st Battery, page 431. 

Sell, John E., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 15, 
1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; First Lieutenant, from 
first sergeant, May 15, 1862 ; Adjutant Sept. 12, 1862 ; 
mustered out April 6, 1865. 

Sells, David M., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 

1861 ; native of Iowa ; transferred and promoted to Second 
Lieutenant U. S. Marines Sept. 10, 1861. 

Sexton, Isaac, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1861 ; sergeant ; native of Tennessee ; transferred, 
Feb. 15, 1864, to Veteran Reserve Corps. 

Shanly, John, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 22, 

1862 ; native of Ireland ; sergeant ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Sharmon, Charles H., Co. G, 33d Infantry ; enlisted 
Sept. 4, 1862 ; native of Ireland; from sergeant promoted 
to Second Lieutenant Feb. 25, 1863 ; wounded in the head 
at battle of Helena, July 4, 1863 ; promoted to First Lieu- 
tenant June 19, 1864 ; commissioned Adjutant Jan. 6, 1865 ; 
discharged with his regiment July 17, 1865. 

Sharp, John, Co. D, 2d Infantry; enlisted Nov. 20, 
1861; native of Kentucky ; honorably discharged Nov. — y 
1862. 

Sharp, David, Co. I, 18th Infantry; enlisted July 26, 
1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Sharp, Donald C, Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 263. 

Sharp, William, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 8, 
1862 ; native of Ohio ; wounded Oct. 5, 1864, at Allatoona, 
Ga. ; discharged at close of war. 

Shaw, James E., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 7, 
1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Shaw, Thomas, Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted May 17, 
1864; native of Illinois; discharged at expiration of term. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 525 

Shaw, Alexander, 4th Infantry ; native of Delaware ; 
commissioned Assistant Surgeon 4th Infantry Sept. 9, 1862 ; 
promoted Surgeon 29th Infantry July 6, 1863 ; resigned 
Aug. 1, 1864. 

Shellhart, Samuel, Co. B, 2od Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
9, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Shellhart, Valentine, Co. M., 8th Cavalry ; enlisted 
July 15, 1863 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Shepherd, Robert H., Co. B, 10th Inf\intry ; enlisted 
Aug. 23, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Sherman, Samuel, Co. K, 17th Infantry; enlisted April 
7, 1862 ; native of Iowa ; wounded May 16, 1863, at Cham- 
pion Hills. Miss. ; taken prisoner Oct. 13, 1864, at Tilton, 
Ga. ; exchanged ; discharged at close of war. 

Sherrill, John W., Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 312. 

Sherrill, Elisha C, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 312. 

Sherrill, William H., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862 ; native of Alabama ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Shewey, James M., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 
11, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Shirts, Iloscius, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 6, 

1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 
SiBBETT, Benjamin F., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 

Aug. 7, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 
Simmonds, William V., 1st Battery ; enlisted Dec. 26, 

1863 ; native of Pennsylvania; discharged at close of war. 
Simmons, Wilson S., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 

15, 1861 ; native of Ohio; commissioned First Lieutenant 
Aug. 8, 1861 ; Captain May 15, 1862 ; discharged with his 
veteran company at close of war. 

Simmons, Amos, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 14, 
1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Simmons, Nicholas W., Co. B, 39th Infantry, page 356. 

Simmons, Baily R., 2d Battery ; enlisted Sept. 4, 1864; 
native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 



626 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

SiMMS, George, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted Jan. 7, 
1862 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 24, 1864 ; 
discharged at close of war. 

SiSLEY, Simon S., Co. D, 2d Cavalry, page 405. 

Skid3I0re, George, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 183. 

Skinner, John 0., 10th Infantry ; commissioned Surgeon 
Aug. 19, 1862 ; native of Ohio; served till June 24, 1865. 

Slatten, Andrew, Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 58. 

Slawter, James, Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; native of Mississippi ; wounded slightly at Farming- 
ton, Miss., May 9, 1862 ; taken prisoner July 16, 1863 ; re- 
enlisted as a veteran March 1, 1864 ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Sleckman, John, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 14, 
1864; native of Missouri ; discharged at expiration of term. 

Smith, Philander, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted INIay 4, 

1861 ; native of Illinois ; wounded in arm at Corinth Oct. 3, 

1862 ; honorably discharged April 7, 1863. 

Smith, William, Coi E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 15, 
1861 ; native of Indiana ; transferred Jan. 3, 1863, at St. 
Louis, to Marine Corps. 

Smith, John E., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 21, 
1861 ; native of Virginia ; honorably discharged April 14, 
1862. 

Smith, Theodore V., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; served three years. 

Smith, John Harrison, Co. E, 3d Infantry, page 129. 

Smith, Wilson T., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
26, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; commissioned Captain Nov. 9, 
1861 ; resigned at Corinth May 23, 1862. 

Smith, Charles P., Co. B, 17th Infantry; enlisted 
March 10, 1862; native of Indiana; wounded slightly at 
luka Sept. 19, 1862 ; promoted to sergeant Sept. 20, 1862 ; 
reenlisted as a veteran March 19, 1864 ; discharged at close 
of w ar. 

Smith, Thomas H., Co. B, 17th Infantry; enlisted 



INDEX AND RECORD. 527 

March 22, 1862; native of Ohio; wounded Nov. 25, 1863, 
at Missionary Ridge, Tenn., severely in the hand ; died 
Oct. 13, 1864, at New Albany, Ind. 

Smith, Hardin, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 
1862 ; native of Iowa ; discharged at close of war. 

Smith, John R., Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 15, 
1862; native of Missouri ; discharged at close of war. 

Smith, Lawson A., Co. I, 39th Infantry, page 384. 

Smith, Eli, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 15, 1862 ; 
native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Smith, Joseph, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 13, 

1862 ; native of Ohio ; wounded Oct. 5, 1864, at Allatoona, 
Ga., severely in the right thigh ; discharged at close of war. 

Smith, Elias, Co. K, 34th Infantry ; enlisted Dec. 30, 

1863 ; native of Iowa ; discharged at close of war. 
Smith, Hiram, Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted May 16, 

1864 ; native of Indiana ; sergeant ; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Smith, William H. M., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 13, 1864; native of Ohio; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Smith, William H., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
16, 1864; native of Kentucky; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Smith, Scott, Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted May 3, 
1864 ; native of New York ; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Snodgrass, James R., Co. I, 39th Infantry; enhsted 
Aug. 15, 1862; native of Illinois; discharged at close of 
war. 

Snook, James B., Co. K, 34th Infantry ; enlisted Jan. 4, 
1864 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of war. 

Spence, Thomas, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 5, 
1862 ; native of Scotland ; discharged at close of war. 

Spencer, George R., 21st Missouri, page 439. 

Spencer, Thomas A., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 



528 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Virginia ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Feb. 1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Spencer, William, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 168. 

Spotts, Franklin, Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 229. 

Spotts, Henry, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 
1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; sergeant ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Sprague, James, Co. E, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted May 15, 

1863 ; native of Indiana ; discharged with his regiment. 
Springer, Jacob L., Co. E, 23d Infantry, page 317. 
Stafford, Oliver P., 4th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 1 6, 

1862 ; native of Kentucky ; recruit ; company unknown. 

Stanberry, William, Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 219. 

Stanhope, Luther W., Co. E, 23d Infantry, page 317. 

Stanton, William H., Co. B, 10th Infantry, page 188. 

Stark, Benjamin P., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
9, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Starkey, Marion B., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 14, 1862 ; taken prisoner at Shady Grove, Tenn., 
Dec. 30, 1862 ; paroled ; discharged at close of war. 

Steele, William, Co. B, 10th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 
23, 1861 ; native of Ohio; honorably discharged at Corinth, 
Miss., Oct. 1, 1862.J 

Stemper, William H., 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 4, 

1864 ; native of Iowa ; discharged at close of war. 
Stephens, Itherman, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted 

July 8, 1863 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 

Stephens, Charles, Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted May 
11, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Stephenson, George R., 2d Battery ; enlisted March 
30, 1864 ; native of Pennsylvania ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Stevens, John, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 21, 
1861 ; native of Virginia; served three years. 

Stevens, John A., Co. A., 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 529 

2, 1862 ; native of Indiana; honorably discharged Aug. 7, 
1863. 

Stevens, George C, Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 267. 

Stewart, Calvin C, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged June 3, 
1862. 

Stewart, John, Co. E, 13th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 29, 
1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; honorably discharged March 

15, 1863. 

Stewart, Thomas G., Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 15, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; wounded May 17, 

1863, at Black River Bridge, Miss. ; transferred Feb. 15, 

1864, to Veteran Reserve Corps. 

Stewart, George W., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1861 ; native of Indiana; reenlisted as a veteran March 
1, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Stiles, George W., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted June 
1, 1863 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Stockdale, Richmond, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 7, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; transferred to Veteran Re- 
serve Corps. 

Stombaugh, Abraham, Co. E, 4th Infantry; enlisted 
July 15, 1861 ; native of Virginia ; served three years. 

Stone, Noah F., Co. D, 10th Infantry (name also 
written Stine) ; enlisted Sept. 3, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; 
died Aug. 24, 1863, at Vicksburg, Miss., of disease ; age, 26. 

Stone, George T., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 

16, 1864; native of England ; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Story, Samuel, Co. C, 22d Infantry, page 249. 

Stoughton, Benjamin F., Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 
215. 

Stover, Henderson, Co. B, 23d Infantry; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; wounded June 7, 1863, 
at Milliken's Bend, La. ; discharged June 3, 1864, for dis- 
ability. 

34 



530 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Strain, John A., Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 15, 
1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Strain, John S., Co. C, -Ith Infantry ; enlisted June 26, 

1861 ; native of Ohio; wounded severely in face at Pea 
Ridge ; discharged May 30, 1863 ; reenlisted in Co. B, 
loth Infantry, Dec. 23, 1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Strang, Thomas O., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted June 
1, 1863; native of New York; sergeant; wounded and 
taken prisoner July 30, 1864, at Newnan, Ga. ; discharged 
with his regiment Aug. 13, 1865. 

Stuart, John W., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 9, 

1862 ; native of Illinois ; wounded May 17, 1863, at Black 
River Bridge, Miss. ; discharged with his regiment July 
25, 1865. 

Stuart, Basil, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 9» 
1862 ; native of Illinois; discharged at close of war with 
his regiment. 

Studer, Adolphus G., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted 
Sept. 25, 1861 ; native of Switzerland ; commissioned First 
Lieutenant Nov. 9, 1861 ; wounded at Shiloh ; promoted 
Captain May 25, 1862 ; resigned Jan. 18, 1863, on account 
of disability ; commissioned Captain of Co. D, 18th Regi- 
ment Veteran Reserve Corps, stationed at Washington? 
D. C. ; appointed General Superintendent of Education 
for Freedmen, La., Jan. — , 1866 ; resigned Aug. 11, 1866. 

Sturgeon, Daniel, Co. G, 23d Infantry, page 327. 

Sturgeon, Archibald, Co. G, 23d Infantry, page 327. 

Stutsman, Solomon, 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 4, 1864 ; 
native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Sullivan, John O., Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; sergeant ; served three years. 

Sullivan, James 0., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Ireland ; discharged at close of war. 

SuMMY, Henry B., Co. B, 23d Infintry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 
1862 ; native of Indiana; wounded June 7, 1863, at Milli- 
ken's Bend, La., severely in head and leg ; discharged at 
close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 531 

SuMPSTEiN, William, 2d Battery ; enlisted Aug. ], 1861 ; 
native of Indiana; honorably discharged Oct. 16, 1862. 

SuMpTER, Bluford, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of war. 

Sunday, William, Co. E, 23d Infantry, page 316. 

Sutton, Aquila, Co. E, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 9, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Sutton, Charles S., Co. D, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted 
March 1, 1863 ; native of Indiana; trumpeter; discharged 
with his regiment. 

Swain, Henry, Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 15, 

1862 ; native of Ohio ; sergeant ; discharged at close of war. 
Swallow, William Z., Co. E, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 

Aug. 12, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; honorably discharged 
June 10, 1863. 

Savayne, Oscar, Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 23, 

1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted Feb. 1, 1864, as a 
veteran ; discharged at close of war (also accredited to 
Warren County). 

Swem, William A., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran Dec. 23, 

1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Swift, Jeremiah, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 9, 
1862; native of Vermont; wounded May 17, 1863, at Black 
River Bridge, Miss. ; discharged at close of war. 

Swift, Matthew F., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1861 ; native of Indiana; served three years. 

Swim, William G., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1861 ; native of New York; from private promoted to 
first sergeant; reenlisted as a veteran Feb. 1, 1864 ; com- 
missioned First Lieutenant Aug. 6, 1865 ; discharged 
with regiment Aug. 15, 1865. 

Swim, Daniel A., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 

1862 ; native of Kentucky ; sergeant ; discharged at close 
of war. 

Swope, Henry II., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 
1862 ; native of Ohio; discharged at close of war. 



532 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Taft, Joel, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 7, 1862 ; 
native of New York ; discharged at close of war. 

Takbell, Edward, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
16, 1864; native of Maine; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Taylor, John C, Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
23, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Jan. 5, 
1863. 

Taylor, Henry P., Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 214. 

Taylor, Henry, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
12, 1862 ; native of Virginia ; discharged at close of war. 

Taylor, Thomas 0., Co B, 39th Infantry, page 357. 

Teesdale, Benjamin, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 22, 1862 ; native of England ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Terrill, Lemuel, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 182. 

Terro, Henry, 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 1, 1864 ; 
native of New York ; discharged at close of war, 

Thacker, Fielding T., 1st Battery ; enlisted Jan. 4, 
1864 ; native of Kentucky ; discharged at close of war. 

Thinnis, Augustus J., Co. D, 2d Cavalry, page 401. 

Thomas, Loren S., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 
30, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged March 15, 
1863. 

Thomas, Charles N., Co. G, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Feb. 10, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Feb. 12, 1864 ; discharged at close of war (accredited also 
to Warren County). 

Thompson, Amos, Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 
30, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Thompson, Charles, Co. K, 17th Infantry ; enlisted 
April 7, 1862; native of Virginia; honorably discharged 
March 6, 1863. 

Thompson, Andre, Co. A, 23d Infantry, page 260. 

Thompson, James D., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 
25, 1863 ; native of Virginia; discharged at close of war. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 53B 

Thornton, Thomas J., Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted 
Oct. 23, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Nov. 
— , 1862. 

Thornton, Nathan, Co. I, 18th Infantry, page 243. 

Thornton, Samuel E., Co. B, 39th Infantry, page 357. 

Thrailkill, Scott, Co. C, 3d Cavalry, page 410. 

Thrailkill, Joseph, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
9, 1862 ; native of Missouri ; honorably discharged Jan. 26, 
1863. 

Thurber, Franklin R., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 15, 1862 ; native of New York ; sergeant ; promoted 
to Second Lieutenant Jan. 1, 1865 ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Tibberghein, James W., Co. H, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
March 9, 1862; native of Indiana; transferred Feb. 16, 
1864, to Veteran Reserve Corps. 

Tichenor, GtEORGe C, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 7, 1862 ; native of Kentucky ; from private elected 
Second Lieutenant Co. E ; commissioned Adjutant 39th 
Infantry Sept. 15, 1862 ; assigned to duty as Post Adjutant 
at Corinth, Miss., May 1, 1863 ; appointed Aid-de-camp 
to General G. M. Dodge July 1, 1863 ; commissioned 
Major and Aid-de-camp in United States Army Feb. — , 
1865 ; commissioned Lieutenant- Colonel of Volunteers, and 
Colonel by brevet March 6, 1865, "for gallant and meri- 
torious service during the war ; " Judge Advocate- General 
in different campaigns ; mustered out at his own request 
Feb. — , 1866. 

TiLTON, William B., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted June 
15, 1861 ; native of Illinois ; discharged at close of war. 

Tipton, John J., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1861 ; native of Indiana; served three years. 

Titus, Selah M., 1st Battery, page 433. 

Todd, William, Co. D, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Jan. 16, 
1865 ; recruit ; native of Indiana ; discharged with his regi- 
ment. 



534 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

TowNSEND, Thomas H., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted 
Aug. 2, 1861; native of Connecticut; quartermaster- 
sergeant; served three years. 

TowNSEND, Caleb, Co. A, 10th Infantry; enlisted 

21, 1861 ; native of Ohio; honorably discharged Aug. 13, 
1862. 

Train, Francis M., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted June 
20, 1863 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of war. 

Treat, Selden C, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 
15, 1861 ; native of Connecticut ; sergeant ; commissioned 
Second Lieutenant Oct. 16, 1862 ; First Lieutenant Jan. 9, 
1863; discharged Dec. 31, 1864. 

Trent, John Wilson, Co. I, 29th Infantry, page 338. 

Turner, William H., Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted 
May 12, 1864; native of Illinois; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

TuTHiLL, Euphrates, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 9, 1862; native of Ohio; discharged at close of 
war. 

Tuttle, Joel, Co. F, 2d Infantry, page 107. 

Tyron, Robert, Co. H, 9 th Cavalry ; eidisted Sept. 17, 
1863 ; served eighteen months in Co. E, 4th Infantry ; 
native of Ohio ; sergeant ; discharged at close of war. 

Upde GRAPH, Jerome, Co. B, 10th Infantry, page 191. 

Vale, Jostah M., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 12, 
1864 ; native of Pennsylvania ; from private promoted to 
Second Lieutenant June 4, 1864 ; discharged Avith his 
regiment at expiration of term of service. 

Van Dorn, Hezekiah, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; first sergeant ; promoted 
to First Lieutenant July 1, 1862 ; honorably discharged 
from his veteran company Jan. 16, 1865. 

Van Dorn, William, Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 11, 1864; native of Ohio; commissioned First Lieu- 



INDEX AND RECORD. 535 

tenant (from Second) June 1, 1864 ; discharged with his 
regiment at expiration of term. 

Van Horn, William, Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted 
Nov. 18, 1861 ; native of Indiana; served three years. 

Van Scoyoc, James M., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted 
June 1, 1863 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 
(Served four months in Co. B, 11th Infantry, and one year 
in naval service.) 

Van Scoyoc, Silas, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted 
June 25, 1863 ; native of (3hio ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Vennamon, William J., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 11, 1862; native of Indiana; sergeant; taken pris- 
oner at Allatoona, Ga., Oct. 5, 1864 ; in rebel prisons 
about eight months ; exchanged ; discharged from service 
at close of war. 

Vestal, Solomon A., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862; native of Tennessee ; discharged at close 
of war. 

Vestal, Theodore F., Co. F, 47th Infantry, page 397. 

Vice, Henry, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 299. 

Virtue, John, Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 269. 

Wacker, John, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 
1862 ; native of Wurtemburg ; discharged at close of war. 

Wakefield, Francis, Co. B, 17th Infantry, page 238. 

Walker, Joel M., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; commissioned First Lieutenant 
Sept. 19, 1862 ; Captain Dec. 1, 1862 ; discharged with his 
regiment at close of war. 

Walker, John S., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
.5, 1862 ; native of Iowa ; wounded June 7, 1863, at 
Milliken's Bend, La., severely in the cheek ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Walker, Augustus D., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 2, 1862 ; native of Iowa; discharged at close of war. 



536 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Walker, Ephraim, Co. D, 2d Cavalry, page 402. 

Wallace, David S., Co. I, 39tli Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 7, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Walsh, Thomas, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 9, 
1862 ; native of Ireland ; discharged at close of war. 

Ward, Thomas, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted Nov. 28, 
1861 ; native of Ohio ; wounded in the hand at Donelson, 
Feb. 15, 1862 ; reenhsted as a veteran Dec. 23, 1863 ; dis- 
charged at close of war. 

Ward, Robert Francis, Co. B, 39th Infantry, page 
365. 

Ward, William H., Co. F, 47th Infantry; enlisted 
May 13, 1864; native of Indiana ; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

Warden, George, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
5, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Dec. 19, 
1862. 

Warden, Daniel, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted March 
24, 1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Warden, Isaac, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted March 
23, 1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Warner, Jared A., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Michigan ; promoted to commissary 
sergeant July 15, 1861 ; discharged for promotion, by 
special order at St. Louis (date not given) ; served till 
close of war. 

Warnock, Newton, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Warnock, Austin, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
23, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; sergeant ; wounded June 7, 
1863, at Milliken's Bend, La. ; discharged at close of war. 

Warren, Henry F., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 15, 1862 ; native of Massachusetts ; discharged at 
close of war. 

Warren, Alfred, Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 537 

15, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; taken prisoner at Parker's 
Cross-Roads, Tenn., Dec. 31, 1862 ; paroled ; discharged 
from service at close of war. 

Washburn, Gustavus, Co. D, 2d Cavalry, page 406. 

Waterbury, Stephen, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862; native of New York; promoted to Second 
Lieutenant Aug. 19, 186^ ; First Lieutenant Dec. 1, 1862 ; 
resigned June 10, 1863. 

Waterman, Andrev^ J., Co. B, 23d Ii^fantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 9, 1862 ; native of Vermont ; honorably discharged 
Dec. 26, 1864. 

Waterman, Henry, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1862 ; native of Vermont ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Watson, John, Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 65. 

Watts, John, Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 
12, 1861 ; native of Indiana; honorably discharged June 
14, 1862. 

Webb, John Gardener, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 288. 

Webb, James R., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 7, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Webber, William A., Co. G, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 22, 1862 ; native of Maine ; sergeant ; honorably 
discharged Feb. 27, 1863. 

Webber, Joseph T., 2d Battery ; enlisted Sept. 20, 
1864 ; native of Maine ; discharged at close of war. 

Weeks, Theodore G., Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 31. 

Weeks, Albert W. C, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 17, 1864 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at expira- 
tion of term. 

Weese, Charles, 16th Infantry; recruit; enlisted Jan. 
4, 1864 (company unknown). 

Weitman, Francis, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
11, 1862 ; native of Wurtemburg ; promoted to first ser- 
geant from private ; commissioned Second Lieutenant 
March 6, 1863; discharged at close of war. 



538 \MERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Wells, Levi, Co. B, loth Infantry, page 228. 

Wertzel, Conrad, Co. B, loth Infantry, page 215. 

West, Edwin R., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 15, 
1861 ; native of Ohio ; reenlisted as a veteran Jan. 1, 
1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

West, Henry C, Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 300. 

West, Benjamin P., Co. C, 23d Infantry, page 287. 

West, Samuel V., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1862; native.* of Pennsylvania; discharged at close of 
war. 

West, Sumner, Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted July 20, 
1863 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

West, Thomas C, 1st Battery ; enlisted Dec. 23, 1863 ; 
native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Wharton, Junius E., Co. D, 2d Cavalry ; enlisted Oct. 
30, 1861 ; native of Ohio; sergeant; honorably discharged 
Sept. 10, 1862. 

Wheaton, Jeremiah S., Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 14, 1862 ; native of Connecticut ; honorably dis- 
charged Nov. 1, 1863. 

Wheeler, John, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged Dec. 1, 
1862. 

Wheeler, Thomas, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran Feb. 
1, 1864; discharged at close of war. 

Wheeler, James T., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of 
war. 

Wheelhouse, John M., Co. H, 44th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 12, 1864; native of Ohio; discharged at expiration 
of term. 

Whitaker, Deacon J., 2d Battery ; enlisted Aug. 1, 
1861 ; native of Pennsylvania ; served three years. 

White, James, Co. E, 7th Cavalry ; enlisted March 15, 
1863 ; native of New York ; discharged with his regiment. 



INDEX AND RECORD. 539 

White, Walter, Co. D, GOth IT. S. Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 20, 1863 ; native of Missouri ; discharged with his 
regiment. 

Whited, Elijah M., Co. D, 10th Infantry; enlisted 
Feb. 10, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; wounded Oct. 4, 1862, 
at Corinth, Miss., in the hand ; served three years. 

Whitmer, Samuel, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 
4, 1861 ; sergeant ; native of Ohio ; served three years. 

Whitney, Charles F., Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted 
May 3, 1864 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Wicker, Samuel, Co. I, 39th Infantry; enlisted Aug. 
15, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

Widner, James, 4th Infantry ; recruit (company un- 
known) ; enlisted Sept. 15, 1862 ; native of Ohio. 

Wilcox, James R., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 

9, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; sergeant ; wounded 
May 17, 1863, at Black River Bridge, Miss. ; wounded 
April 1, 1865, at Spanish Fort, Ala. ; discharged at close 
of war. 

Wilcox, Gilbert, Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Wilder, Andrew J., Co. I, 39th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 22, 1862 ; native of Indiana; discharged at close of 
war. 

Wiley, Robert, Co. D, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 
3, 1862; native of Ohio; wounded May 16, 1863, at 
Champion Hills, Miss. ; served three years. 

Wiley, James, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 

10, 1862 ; native of Kentucky ; discharged at close of war. 
WiLFONG, David, Co. M, 8th Cavalry; enlisted July 15, 

1863 ; native of Ohio ; discharged at close of war. 

WiLKiNS, Rees, Co. B, 15th Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 1, 
1861 ; native of Ohio ; from sergeant promoted to Second 
Lieutenant May 24, 1862; resigned Dec. 16, 1862. 



540 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Williams, John Z., Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted Nov. 
20, 1861 ; native of Illinois ; wounded in right arm at 
Donelson, Tenn., B'eb. 15, 1862 ; discharged Oct. 9, 1862, 
for disability. 

Williams, Jonathan, Co. A, 10th Infantry, page 182. 

Williams, Lewis H., Co. B, loth Infantry ; enlisted 
Oct. 25, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Dec. 6, 1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Williams, Jeremiah D., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 23, 1862; native of Indiana ; sergeant; honorably 
discharged Dec. 25, 1863. 

Williams, Harry, Co. B, 39th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
8, 1862 ; native of Kentucky ; discharged at close of war. 

Williams, Chaunct A., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862 ; native of Ohio ; sergeant ; promoted to 
Second Lieutenant Dec. 1. 1862 ; resigned March 5, 1863. 

Williams, Joseph W., Co. M, 8th Cavalry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1863; native of Missouri; discharged at close of 
war. 

Williamson, James A., 4th Infantry ; native of Ken- 
tucky ; commissioned Adjutant August — , 1861 ; wounded 
in shoulder at Pea Ridge; promoted to Lieutenant- Colonel 
April 4, 1862 ; Colonel May 1, 1862 ; wounded at Vicks- 
burg Dec. 29, 1862 ; Brevet Brigadier-General U. S. Vol- 
unteers Dec. 19, 1864; Brigadier-General U. S. Volunteers 
Jan. 13, 1865. 

Wilshire, John, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 

14, 1864; native of Maine; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Wilson, James M., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted July 

15, 1861; native of Alabama ; sergeant; wounded May 
19, 1863, at Vicksburg, Miss., severely in left leg; honor- 
ably discharged June 25, 1865. 

Wilson, Samuel W., Co. K, 17th Infantry ; enlisted 
March 21, 1862 ; native of Iowa ; wounded in thigh at 
battle of Corinth, Oct. 3, 1862 ; wounded May 14, 1863, 



INDEX AND RECORD. 541 

at Jackson, Miss., severely ; reenlisted as a veteran March 
25, 1864 ; discharged at close of war. 

Wilson, Clark, Co. B, 23d Infantry, page 283. 

Wilson, William, Co. E, 23d Infantry, page 317. 

Wilson, James, 2d Battery; enlisted Oct. 17, 1862; 
native of Illinois ; reenlisted as a veteran March 23, 1864; 
discharged at close of war. 

WiNTERHALTER, IsAAC W., Co. C, 22d Infantry, page 
249. 

Winters, David Eoss, Co. B, 15th Infantry, page 223. 

WiTMER, George W., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862; native of Indiana; discharged at close of 
war. 

Woldridge, James A., 39th Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 15, 
1864; native of Kent\icky ; recruit (company unknown). 

WoLGEMUTH, George M., Co. D, 2d Infontry ; enhsted 
May 4, 1861 ; native of Germany ; reenlisted as a veteran 
Dec. 23, 1863 ; discharged at close of war. 

Wood, Hartford, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
11, 1862; native of Ohio; discharged at close of war. 

WooDROW, Charles B., Co. I, 18th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 21, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of 
war. 

WoODROW, William H., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 9, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; wounded May 17, 1863, 
at Black River Bridge, Miss. ; discharged at close of war. 

Woodruff, Joseph H., Co. E, 4th Infantry ; enlisted 
July 15, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; honorably discharged 
Sept. 20, 1861. 

Woods, John Lewis, Co. E, 3d Infantry, page 130. 

Woods, J. H., Co. K, 16th Infantry; enlisted Feb. 25, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; reenlisted as a veteran Feb. 25, 
1864 ; discharged with his regiment July 19, 1865. 

Woodward, William H., Co. E, 23d Infantry ; en- 
listed Aug. 14, 1862; native of Illinois; discharged at 
close of war. 



542 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

Woodward, Robert, Co. E, 14th Infantry, page 211. 

WooTEN, Jonathan, Co. M, 8th Cavah-y ; enlisted 
June 25, 1863 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Wright, Jonathan J., Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 21, 1861 ; native of Ohio ; reiinlisted as a veteran 
Feb. 1, 1864 ; wounded March 20, 1865, at Cox's Bridge, 
N. C, severe concussion of the brain ; discharged with his 
regiment at close of war. 

Wright, John, Co. A, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
21, 1861 ; native of Iowa ; honorably discharged May 22, 
1863. 

Wright, John W., Co. B, 10th Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
23, 1861 ; native of Indiana ; from corporal promoted to 
Second Lieutenant March 24, 1863 ; wounded in battle at 
Champion Hills, Miss. ; taken prisoner at battle of Mis- 
sionary Ridge ; escaped from prison and joined the Union 
forces at Savannah, Ga., January, 1865 ; mustered out of 
the service Jan. 13, 1865, at his own request. 

Wright, Amos, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 
1862 ; native of Indiana ; sergeant ; transferred Aug. 29, 
1864, to Veteran Reserve Corps. 

Wright, William, 1st Battery ; enlisted Dec. 29, 1863 ; 
native of Indiana ; discharged at close of war. 

Wright, Michael, Co. F, 47th Infantry ; enlisted May 
14, 1864; native of Indiana; discharged at expiration of 
term. 

Wright, John W., Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
March 12, 1864; native of New York; discharged at 
close of war. 

Wright, Melville C, 3d Battery ; native of Indiana ; 
commissioned junior First Lieutenant Sept. 16, 1861 ; 
wounded in arm at Pea Ridge, Ark., March 7, 1862 ; 
promoted to senior First Lieutenant Sept. 4, 1862 ; Cap- 
tain Oct. 4, 1864; discharged Jan. 5, 1865. 

Wylii-:, William D., Co. D, 2d infantry; enlisted May 



INDEX AND RECORD. 643 

4, 1861 ; native of Ohio; discharged April 30, 1862 ; sub- 
sequently appointed hospital steward U. S. Army. 

Yant, David, Co. D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 

1861 ; native of Ohio ; wounded in the arm at Donelson, 
Feb. 15, 1862 ; served three years. 

Yazel, David, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 1, 

1862 ; native of Wisconsin ; discharged at close of war. 
Yerger, Augustus J., Co. I, 37th Infantry ; enlisted 

Aug. 22, 1862; native of Pennsylvania: promoted to 
First Lieutenant Sept. 9, 1862 ; Captain Jan. 1, 1863 ; re- 
signed Nov. 11, 1864. 

YoKENER, Francis P., Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 139. 

Young, Armin, Co. D, 2d Infantry, page 48. 

Young, J. W. M., Co. K, 17th Infantry, page 241. 

Young, Vincent, Co. I, 18th Infantry ; enlisted Jan. 
25, 1862 ; native of Ohio; discharged at close of war. 

Young, Henry B., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Young, Daniel, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
2, 1862; native of Ohio; honorably discharged March 12, 
1863. 

Young, Benjamin F., Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 1, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; discharged at close of 
war. 

Young, Emanuel, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 
1, 1862 ; native of Indiana ; sergeant ; discharged at close 
of war. 

Young, Henry, Co. B, 23d Infantry ; enlisted Aug. 2, 
1862 ; native of Pennsylvania ; honorably discharged 
April 12, 1863. 

Young, Isaac, Co. B, 23d Infantry; enlisted Aug. 7, 
1862 ; native of Ohio; discharged at close of war. 

TouNG, John, 1st Battery; enlisted Jan. 26. 1864 
native of Denmark ; discharged at close of war. 



544 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

YouNT, Enoch J., Co. D, 2d Infantry; enlisted May 4, 
1864 ; native of Indiana ; honorably discharged July 29, 
1862 ; reenlisted, Co. M, 8th Cavalry, Aug. 20, 1863 ; dis- 
charged at close of war. 

YouNT, Robert, Co. E, 4th Infantry, page 160. 

Zelle, Godfrey, Co. ,D, 2d Infantry ; enlisted May 4, 
1861 ; native of Germany ; sergeant ; reenlisted as a vet- 
eran Dec. 18, 1863 ; discharged with his regiment July 12, 

1865. 

Garrett, Lyle A., ^ Co. C, 23d Infantry ; enlisted 
Aug. 9, 1862; native of Ohio; commissioned First Lieu- 
tenant Nov. 13, 1863, from private ; discharged with his 
regiment July 25, 1865. 

1 By an oversight of the author, the name of Lieutenant Garrett was 
omitted, until too late to place it in proper connection with the others. 



THE CONCLUSION. 



It is but just to say something in this book in reference 
to the work accomplished by the women in furtherance of 
the interests of the army and the country during the war. 
The patriotic women of the North labored as untiringly as 
did the men in the field, and their work was of vast impor- 
tance to the army and nation. What abundance of sanitary 
stores were sent forward by them : linen for the sick — 
shirts, drawers, pillows, sheets — all kinds of delicacies, 
wines, etc. It is not the fault of the women if many of the 
" delicacies " never reached the sick, but were devoured by 
greedy hospital cooks, surgeons, and nurses. Women visited 
the sick in hospitals ; established Soldiers' Homes in nearly 
every city of the South ; Orphan Asylums and Schools for 
Freedmen as fast as the army advanced. How great a debt 
of gratitude the soldiers owe the devoted Sisters of Charity. 
Patriotic Christian women of all denominations united in 
the good work, and in nearly every township of the North, 
there were AYomen's Loyal Leagues, and Aid Societies ; 
the women working continually, — those who could giving 
their entire time, visiting the "fatherless and widows in 
their affliction," administering to the wants of the needy 
and destitute. Thousands of dollars were collected by the 
Women's Leagues and Aid Societies of this city and county 
and distributed to the families of soldiers. Des Moines had 
three or four organized societies actively at work all the 
time while the war lasted ; and every township in the county 
had aid societies at work doing vast good, administering 

35 



546 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

to the needy at home, and preparing articles to send to the 
soldiers in hospital. 

When the war encjied, the work of these noble women did 
not end. But joining with patriotic men, they helped to 
establish Orphans' Homes all over Iowa, where now hun- 
dreds of the children of fallen heroes are clothed and ten- 
derly cared for and educated. 

All cannot be told that was done and suffered during the 
war by the patriotic women of Polk County. God will re- 
ward them. The bullet that pierced the heart of the hus- 
band or son, sent a sharper pang to the heart of the wife 
and mother. If noble men have shed their blood on the 
battle-field, their bodies being mangled and limbs shot 
away, greater were the pangs suffered in the minds of 
sympathetic women at home. 

I ask, why all this expense of life and time and money ? 
Why so much death, suffering, and tears ? Was it that we 
of the North might gain the mastery over our brethren of 
the South, to rule and reign over them, to rob our fel- 
lows of the " unalienable rights of liberty and the pursuit 
of happiness ? " Nay, verily. But it was well understood by 
every soldier in the Union army, that he was fighting to 
preserve popular government among men ; for, if our Re- 
public had been overcome by the aristocracy of the South, 
then the world would have pronounced " government by the 
peoi3le for the people " a failure, and kingcraft and aristoc- 
racy would have again become supreme on earth. Thanks 
to God, the intelligent masses of the North had not for- 
gotten the traditions of their fathers. The youth in the 
land of free schools bad read the history of their country, 
and were prepared to appreciate the worth of free govern- 
ment. The following sentences convey the opinions trans- 
mitted to us by our ancestors ; the thoughts that stimulated 
our fathers at Valley Forge to endure the rigors of winter, 
hunger, and nakedness ; to go forward with undaunted 
hearts until they had achieved independence and estab- 
lished a free government : — 



THE CONCLUSION. 547 

. ..." A free commonwealth was not only held by 
wisest men in all ages the noblest, the manliest, the equal- 
est, the justest government, the most agreeable to all clue lib- 
erty and proportioned equality, both human, civil, and Chris- 
tian, most cherishing to virtue and true religion, but also (I 
may say it with greatest probability) plainly commended or 
rather enjoined by our Saviour himself to all Christians, 
not without remarkable disallowance and the brand of 
gentilism upon kingship. God in much displeasure gave 
a king to the Israelites, and imputed it a sin to them that 
they sought one : but Christ evidently forbids His disciples 
to admit of any such heathenish government ; ' The kings 
of the Gentiles,' saith He * exercise lordship over them ; 
and they that exercise authority upon them are called bene- 
factors ; but ye shall not be so ; but he that is greatest 
among you, let him be as the younger, and he that is chief 
as he that serveth.' The occasion of these His words, was 
the ambitious desire of Zebedee's two sons to be exalted 
above their brethren in His kingdom, which they thought 
was to be erelong upon the earth. That He speaks of civil 
government is manifest by the former part of the compari- 
son which infers the other part to be always in the same 
kind. And what government comes nearer to this precept 
of Christ than a free commonwealth, wherein they who are 
greatest are perpetual servants and drudges to the public ; 
neglect their own affairs, yet are not elevated above their 
brethren ; live soberly in their families ; walk the streets as 
other men, may be spoken to freely, familiarly, friendly, 
without adoration ? 

" The happiness of a nation must needs be firmest and 
certainest in a full and free council of their own electing, 
where no single person, but reason only sways. 

" If we were aught else but sluggards or babies we need 
depend on none but God and our own counsels, our own 



548 AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. 

active virtue and industry. ' Go to the ant, tliou sluggard, 
consider her ways and be wise ; which having no prince, 
ruler, or lord, provides her meat in the summer and gathers 
her food in harvest ; ' which evidently shows us that they 
who think the nation undone without a king, though they 
look grave or haughty, have not so much true spirit and 
understanding in them as a pismire ; neither are these 
diliofent creatures thence concluded to live in lawless 
anarchy, or that commended ; but are set the examples to 
imprudent and ungoverned men of a frugal and self govern- 
ing democracy or commonwealth ; safer and more thriving 
in the joint providence and counsel of many industrious 
equals, than under the single dominion of one imperious 
lord. 

" For the ground and basis of every just and free govern- 
ment, is a general council of ablest men, chosen by the 
people, to consult of public affairs from time to time for the 
common good. 

" To make the people fittest to choose, and the chosen 
fittest to govern, will be to mend our corrupt and faulty ed- 
ucation ; to teach the people faith not without virtue, tem- 
perance, modesty, sobriety, justice, not to admire wealth or 
honor ; to hate turbulence and ambition ; to place every 
one his private welfare and happiness in the public peace, 
liberty, and safety. 

" The other part of our freedom consists in the civil rights 
and advancements of every person according to his merit : 
the enjoyment of those never more certain, and the access 
to these never more open, than in a free commonwealth. 

" They should have here, also, schools and academies at 
their own choice, wherein their children may be bred up in 
their own sis^ht to all learninor and noble education, not in 



THE CONCLUSION. 549 

grammar only, but in all liberal arts and exercises. This 
would soon spread much more knowledge and civility, yea, 
religion through all parts of the land, by communicating the 
natural heat of government and culture more distributively 
to all extreme parts, which now lie numb and neglected, 
would soon make the whole nation more industrious, more 
ingenuous at home, most potent, more honorable abroad. 
To this a free commonwealth will easily assent, for of all 
governments, a commonwealth aims the most to make the 
people flourishing, virtuous, noble, and high spirited. Mon- 
archs will never permit ; whose aim is to make the people 
wealthy indeed, well fleeced for their own shearing and the 
supply of regal prodigality ; but otherwise softest, basest, 
viciousest, servilest, easiest to be kept under, and not only 
in fleece, but in mind also, sheepishest ; and will have all 
benches of judicature annexed to the throne, as a gift of 
royal grace, that we have justice done us ; whereas nothing 
can be more effectual to the freedom of the people, than to 
have the administration of justice and all public ornaments 
in their own election and within their own bounds, without 
long travelling or depending on remote places to obtain 
their right, or any civil accomplishment; so it be not 
supreme but subordinate to the general power and union 
of the whole Republic." — Prose Works of John Mil- 
ton : Ready and Easy Way to establish a Free Common- 
wealth. 

Such was the intellectual food our fathers fed on — 
strong meat, but such as we would have our children 
relish. 

I have now finished " American Patriotism ; or. Me- 
moirs OF ' Common Men,' " — an earnest attempt to write 
a good book. 



APPENDIX. 



LETTERS TO A FRIEND. 



MY DEAR FRIEND,— 

In our conversation yesterday evening on the subject 
of religion, you stated that you have no faith whatever in 
Christianity, and that you have little, if any, in the ex- 
istence of a God — one that takes interest in the affairs 
of men. I said to you that I believed I could convince 
you that the Christian religion is a divine religion, and 
that there is a God who directs and watches over the 
affairs of men — a Beinor as much an existence as man 
himself, but perfect. I do not say that He has a body of 
flesh and blood, but I do say, and confidently believe, 
that there is an all-controllinof Mind that framed and 
fashioned all things. Man is not all flesh and blood, but 
the real substance of man is the mind. So God is mind^ 
— is thought. "We cannot, I know, form a distinct con- 
ception of God ; neither can we of infinity of space : 
yet we know that space is infinite. When we look upon 
the world — " Nature's handiwork " — it is most rational 
to believe that it came into existence as the result of 
thought ; for all things, when traced back to their begin- 
ning, are resolved into thought. The world is thought 
and all things therein. Look at the works of man. A 
painting is but the reflection of a thought that existed in 
the mind of the artist before he began to put it upon can- 
vas. A poem is but a conception of the mind. The 
Olympian Jupiter of Phidias existed as a conception in 



554 APPENDIX. 

the mind of the great sculptor while the gold and ivory of 
which it was to be composed lay in an unshapen heap. 
So also with the simplest works of art : the thought is 
first born in the mind ; afterward it takes a material form 
under the hands of the workmen. Now if we look into 
nature, we behold beauty, harmony, design : so beautiful 
that the most finished works of men are but a faint re- 
semblance of the beauties of nature ; so harmonious that 
the great astronomer believed that the heavenly bodies 
in their movements produced music, a heavenly music 
surpassing in sweetness all other music — that angels only 
were permitted to listen to it, the music of the spheres. 
And design — here the mind rests to admire, and the 
soul bows down to worship ; for the design is good — and 
by this I mean more than I have expressed. I mean that 
the great design that runs though all creation is but an 
expression of love. Where is the philosopher that has 
written who does not see a Jinal cause in everything in 
nature. This is shown beautifully by Lord Kames in his 
" Elements of Criticism" (Section VI., Part VI.), as far as 
relates to the emotions and passions of men. By the final 
cause is meant the beneficent purpose that seems to under- 
lie everything in nature. For the accomplishment of good 
everything is made that was made. The more then that 
men think and examine, the more plainly will appear to 
them design in all that belongs to what we call creation. 
Witness man : every faculty of his mind and every mem- 
ber of his body, as has been often shown by writers, ex- 
hibit marks of design. The eye, how wisely constructed, 
how adapted to • its purpose ; the hand, the tongue — 
and how" all the parts are adapted to each other. How 
much more complicated a structure is man than any work 
of man's hands — than a watch, for instance — and how 
harmonious. It is most rational to suppose that whatever 
shows design in its construction had a designer ; that 
whatever shows wisdom in its construction sprang from 



APPENDIX. 555 

wisdom. I say it is most rational so to think ; that if cre- 
ation arose showing forth wisdom, harmony, love, beauty, 
and design, — came into existence, as it were, of its own 
accord, developed into perfection without being born of 
thought, — it is contrary to all that we behold and experi- 
ence in this world. Why then should we believe what is 
contrary to all experience ' — what is contrary to all that 
we see and know — rather than to embrace what by the 
general consent of mankind in all ages, and in all coun- 
tries, and on the distant islands of the sea, is admitted to 
be true, namely, that there is a God ! That all thus admit 
this truth, says Addison, " I think could not have possibly 
come to pass but from one of the three following reasons : 
either that the idea of a God is iimate and coexistent with 
the mind itself; or that this truth is so very obvious that 
it is discovered by the first exertion of reason in persons 
of the most ordinary capacities ; or lastly, that it has been 
delivered down to us through all ages by a tradition from 
the first man." 
Again he says : — 

" That there is a God 
All Nature cries aloud through all her works." 

And that Book which I shall endeavor to prove to be 
divine says : — 

" The earth declares the glory of God : and the firma- 
ment showeth his handiwork." 

But you may answer, " I can admit that there was a 
cause for all things, and that the universe may have pro- 
ceeded from mind or thought, as you say ; yet I have no 
assurance that that mind or that thought is turned to me 
now and will answer my petitions." 

I make this reply : Dr. Franklin, who in his early years 
is admitted to have been quite a disbeliever, or what is 
called a skeptic, in the great convention, when the Consti- 



B56 APPENDIX. 

tution of the United States was being framed, and when 
all seemed dark, and the prospect for the union of these 
States seemed doubtful (he being then a man past eighty 
years of age, wise and venerable), rose and said : — 

'' Mr. President, I have lived long, but the longer I live 
the more am I convinced that there is a God and that He 
rules in the affairs of men and of nations ; I therefore move 
that the meetings of this body be hereafter opened with 
prayer." 

And history affirms that this motion being carried and 
put into effect, had a very beneficial influence on that great 
assembly. How God answered those prayers I cannot 
say, but greater harmony prevailed thereafter ; and 1 do 
truly believe that the man does not exist, who habitually 
bows down in prayer and supplication to his Maker, but 
will declare that he has always derived consolation, hope, 
courage — great benefit from prayer. I do not think that in 
answer to prayer God will send earthquakes to destroy 
our enemies ; but He does give the soldier in answer to 
prayer renewed courage to meet the enemies of his coun- 
try. The Christian soldier, after fervent prayer to God, 
feels safe in the midst of dangers ; for he says, " God will 
take care of me ; either He will preserve my life or He will 
take me to Himself; whatever is best in his sight He 
will do ; and I submit myself joyfully to the ^ill and 
protecting care of God." I cannot refrain from copying 
here a letter that was actually written by a Christian sol- 
dier to his wife and children : — 

" It rejoices my heart to know that you all meet around 
our own family altar morning and evening to ask God to 
bless you and your absent father, and to spare his life, that 
he may again come and live with you. I pray daily, yea, 
I pray without ceasing, that we may all, in the good Lord's 
own time, meet to enjoy each other's society, around our 



APPENDIX. ' 557 

own family altar and peaceful fireside. But yet we know 
not what a day may bring forth. But the Lord doeth all 
things well. We live in a world of disappointments, trials, 
crosses, and afflictions, all of which are blessings to those 
that appreciate them as coming from Him who is too wise 
to err, too good to do wrong." 

Who does not see that the prayers of this good man 
were a benefit to him ; that God answered them by giving 
him consolation ; by making him reconciled to his condi- 
tion and lot, though he was never permitted to return to 
his home and family ? The same soldier says in another 
letter : — 

" Had I the tongue of an angel, and the pen of a ready 
writer, I could neither tell nor describe the love that I 
have for my beloved family. Were it not for the love of 
God shed abroad in my heart ; were it not for the unshaken 
confidence I have in my blessed Redeemer ; were it not 
for the comforting, consoling, happifying influences of re- 
ligion, I would be miserable indeed." 

And thus does God answer the prayers of the Christian 
worshipper. 

" In everything," says the Christian Bible, " by prayer 
and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be 
made known unto God : and the peace of God, which passeth 
all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through 
Christ Jesus." 

So God answers prayer by giving the devout worshipper 
this " peace of God, which passeth all understanding," and 
that this " peace of God " is a reality to the Christian is 
proven by the testimony of many witnesses. The following 
passage taken from the letter of another Christian soldier, 
written to his sister, is proof in point : — 

" The hospital, aside from the many churches which I 
have visited, is the only place of real interest to me in the 
city. I spent one week there, and I must say that I never 



558 APPENDIX. 

felt happier. My mind was at perfect peace, though my 
body was sorely afflicted." 

This is the peace that God giveth in answer to prayer. 
Sick in hospital, but full of love of God ; the happiest week 
he had ever spent in his life : how joyful was his mind ! 

Let the soldier who believes not in God, who does not 
pray, be laid upon his cot in hospital, sick, whence com- 
eth his joy ? Has he any happiness ; has he any peace of 
mind " which passeth all understanding ? " 

See how this same Christian worshipper of God, and de- 
fender of the flag of his country, writes in another letter : — 

" Allow nothing which befalls me to mar your happiness ; 
for God is my helper and my shield. I fear not, for He is 
with me, and sanctifies to me my deepest distresses. If 
any of my old Christian associates inquire of my welfare, 
tell them my joy is complete. I feel no doubts nor fears. 
God is mine, and I am His. Whether in the tented field, or 
amidst the smoke of battle, I am resigned to my position 
and lot. To see them would be joy ; but to know that they 
pray for me and intercede for my welfare is true happiness. 
May God bless all with whom I have been hitherto asso- 
ciated in a religious capacity, and may their joy be full. I 
remember the children with prayer, that they may be use- 
ful in the world. O teach them loyalty to their country." 

Again he writes : — 

" You remarked that you are occasionally lonely. Why 
this should be I cannot understand. It would not be won- 
derful if I should get lonely. I am [happy as the day is 
long. I find occasionally one deeply schooled in the things 
pertaining to our eternal welfare, and whose society I enjoy 
as a feast of love. My mind is lifted from earth, and my 
communion is with saints ; and I am made to forget that I 
am in mortal strife with my fellow-man." 

And again : — 



APPENDIX. 559 

'• If it is my lot to fall in battle, or to become a prey to 
disease, remember that I trust in One who is able to save. 
If I fall by the hand of the enemy, I have yielded up life 
nobly and honorably. If it is God's will that I shall be 
restored to my friends, I shall be most glad to meet you 
all ; otherwise I exclaim, ' The will of God be done.' " 

This noble young man, whose prayers God had an- 
swered by giving him that " peace of God which passeth 
all understanding," was slain on the field of battle. These 
extracts from letters show first, how God answers prayer, 
— by giving the worshipper "joy and peace in believing;" 
and secondly, they prove the truth of the Scripture above 
quoted ; for the promises of that Scripture are shown to be 
true ; and the Bible is proven to be true if it shall appear 
to be adapted to the wants and in harmony with the nature 
of man. But of this in it proper place. 

I have tried then to show that God does answer prayer, 
by giving to the mind of the worshipper joy and peace, and 
confidence in believing. I cannot say that God listens 
with His ears in a literal sense, and sends down an angel 
to convey the blessing to the heart of the believer ; I can- 
not say how He does it ; but this I do know, the hlessing 
comes as it is promised, and the Christian arises from his 
knees with a heart full of joy and hope. To be happy, 
truly happy, we must do as the Bible enjoins : " In every- 
thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let 
your requests be made known unto God ; " and sure is the 
promise that " the peace of God, which passeth all under- 
standing, will keep your hearts and minds through Christ 
Jesus." 

Is it not enouo^h to lead us to be meek and humble, and 
as little children receive the faith — cherishing it ever in 
our hearts — of the existence of a God, when we know that 
the wisest men, like Newton, Milton, Locke, and Bacon, 
and all men in all nations, in all times, have believed in 



560 APPENDIX. 

Deity, and acknowledged that tliey recognized and ad- 
mitted the same truth as was admitted by Franklin, — 

" I have lived long, but the longer I live, the more am 
I convinced that there is a God, and that He rules in the 
affairs of men and of nations." 



MY DEAR FRIEND,— 

I AT one time believed as you believe, and felt as you 
feel in regard to the Bible and the Christian religion. In 
all honesty and sincerity of heart I sought to know the 
truth ; and in order to obtain that inestimable jewel I was 
willing to undergo any hardship, to wade through fire, if 
need be ; and after much reading, and deep and earnest 
thought, I came to regard the Bible as a book devised by 
Jewish priests and designing men, in order to fetter and 
enslave the ignorant and superstitious — as a book of 
imposture. Many things spoken of in the Old Testament 
seemed cruel and wicked ; much that appeared contrary 
to truth, contrary to nature. The sun standing still to 
enable Joshua to kill his enemies ! The waters of the Red 
Sea dividing to enable the children of Israel to go over 
dry-shod ! All miracles seemed to me to be idle fictions, 
and indeed the w^hole body of the Scriptures appeared to 
me to be a delusion and a lie. And religion, so called, 
was something I had no sympathy with —thought if it be 
anything but pretense, it is only a species of insanity ; and 
the votaries of religion were to me objects of pity or con- 
tempt. I did not express these thoughts publicly, but 
cherished them deep in my heart. Now I am sure that 
your skepticism cannot be greater than was mine ; and 
the thoughts that have led me, now that I am arrived at 
an age of life the most responsible, to adopt a more char- 



APPENDIX. 561 

itable view of religion, and of the Bible, may also, I trust, 
if properly presented, incline you to join hands with me, 
and go along with me in my earnest endeavors to become 
all that God would have me to be ; in the language of that 
Book in which I see some, aye many beauties now : " Till 
we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge 
of the Son of God, unto 2i perfect man, unto the measure 
of the stature of the fullness of Christ." And here I will 
say that it is my ultimate purpose to prove, that if we can 
arrive at, in goodness and holiness, '" the measure of the 
stature of the fullness of Christ," we shall, in truth, be 
" perfect men ; " that the purpose and aim of the Scrip- 
tures is not to enslave man, but to unfold and develop all 
that is excellent in his nature ; to call out the divine nature 
that is in him, as the genial warmth of the summer sun 
causes the tender plant to spring up from the earth, to put 
on foliage, blossom, and finally ripen golden fruit. 

I look upon the Bible as a beautiful work — harmonious 
as a whole, of inestimable value to mankind. When looked 
at from the proper stand-point, it is not unlike, in its effect 
upon the mind, a noble statue upon a lofty pedestal, all 
lovely and harmonious, filling the mind with the emotion 
of sublimity. Looking at it from an improper distance, 
and only examining a finger or a toe at a time, something 
incongruous may seem to appear. We do not comprehend 
perhaps, or we interpret literally, the metaphors. The tree 
of life, the cherubim, and flaming sword, the serpent in 
the garden, all hieroglyphics copied literally after the inven- 
tion of letters, looked at in the light of language of the 
present day seem like a "school-boy's story by a winter 
fire." But read the mea^iing of those ancient pictures and 
it is beautiful. The Bible may not improperly be compared 
to some ancient temple, a model of beauty, but time 
has defaced many marks that were once plain and per- 
ceptible ; yet the great structure stands to instruct the ages 
to come — the admiration of the world. Language, like 

36 



562 APPENDIX. 

marble, is not invulnerable to the assaults of time, and, 
therefore, in the Bible, many outlines that were once clear 
and beautiful, have become dim and obscure ; and much 
that was adapted to the times of old, is not seen nor un- 
derstood now ; but the great structure stands, and looked 
at as it should be, the mind of the beholder is filled with 
grateful emotions. The proper way, as I conceive, to view 
the Bible, is to view it as a whole, and it must appear to be 
adapted to the nature of man — the sun to enlighten him in 
this benighted world. Shall we condemn the sun as of no 
account, because we think we see spots upon its surface ? 
So let us not condemn the Bible in the lump, because we 
may find things in it that we do not understand. Let us 
first see whether it does not throw a glorious light upon 
the world ; and whether we could really do without its 
light and warmth. 

I shall speak in these letters as a man dealing with facts 
as they exist. There are some things that we cannot con- 
demn and trample on without committing treason. The 
Constitution of our country is a sacred instrument, and 
whoever by word or deed endeavors to destroy the attach- 
ment of the people to that instrument, commits a grievous 
wrong. But the government of our country rests no more 
certainly upon the instrument we call the Constitution, than 
it does upon the book we call the Bible. Our government 
grew out of the Christian religion. It never would have 
existed but for Christianity, and whatever we cherish in it 
as lovely and good, is derived from the Bible. Do we 
cherish a pride in it because it embodies the thought of 
the equality of men ? Did not that idea of human equality 
come from the teachings of Jesus Christ ? Where in any 
writings of philosophers, poets, or historians do you find 
recorded the doctrine of human equality, other than in the 
New Testament ? Thomas Paine says, " I believe in the 
equality of men." Whence did he derive this doctrine but 
from the very Book that he was laboring to destroy ? Now 



APPENDIX. 563 

if you read carefully the life of Christ, you will find Him 
associating with the humblest ; choosing the very poorest 
and lowliest of men as His disciples. The New Testament 
and that alone, of all books that were ever written, teaches 
the doctrine of the equality of men. And no man versed 
at all in the history of America, will deny that the Puritan 
idea of government of church and state was derived from 
the Bible. " God," says Milton, " in much displeasure gave 
a king to the Israelites, and imputed it a sin to them that 
they sought one ; but Christ evidently forbids His disciples 
to admit of any such heathenish government. ' The kings 
of the Gentiles,' saith He, ' exercise lordship over them, 
and they that exercise authority upon them are called ben- 
efactors ; but ye shall not be so, but he that is greatest 
among you, let him be as the younger, and he that is chief 
as he that serveth.' " The Bible and the Christian religion 
are as much a part of this American government, as the 
bones and flesh are a part of the structure of the body oi 
man. Therefore it is certainly the part of patriotism to 
look upon this Bible and religion in the most favorable 
light possible, and if there be in them any beauty it will 
gladden the heart of the beholder ; if there be in them 
any excellence, he will value it as gold and precious stones ; 
and if they appear to him upon a candid examination, to 
embody all that is good in philosophy, all that is noble in 
poetry, all that is lovely in history, he will declare, '' That 
Bible and that religion I am ready to defend with my blood 
and my life." And this do I declare with all the enthusi- 
asm of an earnest and patriotic heart, being fully convinced 
of the excellency and beauty and worth of that Book, and 
the religion of my forefathers, and of my country. 

To incline you the more to look favorably upon this 
Bible and this religion, let me remind you how both were 
cherished and valued by our ancestors ; how they endured 
exile ; how gladly they met the dangers of the sea ; how 
willingly and resignedly they took up their abode in the 



564 APPENDIX. 

inhospitable woods, for the sake of the Bible and the 
Christian religion, dearer to them than riches and all else. 
Life, country, friends, home, kindred, wife, and children, 
nothing was so valuable to them as freedom to worship 
God according to what they believed to be his revealed 
will. If they valued this Book and the Christian religion 
so highly — and they were certainly earnest men, and 
there were men of no little wisdom and learning among 
them — should not we be inclined to think that perhaps 
there is more in this Bible and this religion than we have 
yet been led to suppose ? Let us look into these things 
lest we be sinning against our country, our children, and 
peradventure against God. <? 

But you may reply, " I admit that the Bible and the 
Christian religion are intimately connected with and inter- 
woven into the structure of our government, and I may 
be restrained by patriotic motives from speaking or writ- 
ing anything against them ; yet the same motives must 
have prevailed in my mind had I been born in Turkey 
instead of in America. I then should have held to the 
Alkoran and the religion of Mohammed from the same 
reason, though I could not have admitted them to be true." 

In all candor let me answer : If the Mohammedan re- 
ligion were the religion of your country, and upon exami- 
nation you found the Alkoran to teach what is taught in the 
Christian Scriptures, — the true knowledge of God, how to 
worship Him acceptably, and a morality more pure than 
that taught by any of the philosophers of ancient or mod- 
ern times, — it certainly would be your duty to stand by 
that book and the Mohammedan religion. 

There is one leading thought running through the Old 
Testament ; and that Book, in my opinion, was given to 
man as a revelation of that one thought, and that alone, 
and in explanation of this remark I will say : — 

Man in this lower world, in his endeavors after immor- 
tality, often executes works that call forth admiration. 



APPENDIX. 565 

Perhaps it is Michael Angelo, who has finished his master- 
piece. It embodies one leading idea. There is one 
thought running through the " Iliad." One thought only is 
developed by the architect in the mighty cathedral. One 
thought runs through all the works of God — harmony — 
and God Himself is the embodiment of one single thought 
— Love. So the Old Testament contains but one 
thought, and that is God. It reveals " One God and 
ONLY One," and as a corollary to that thought, " Worship 
Him." If you believe in one God, and believe that it is 
your duty to worship Him, you believe in the Old Testa- 
ment. All else that is written in that Book is only the 
amplification of that one thought. All that appears ex- 
travagant in the historical parts of the Old Testament, is 
reasonable and true when we see in it the history, not only 
of the actual transactions of the time, but also a history 
of the faith of the people. If the Puritan Fathers of 
New England had recorded, as was done by the Jewish 
writer, every transaction as it appeared to their religious 
minds, then would we read how God, in answer to prayer, 
sent rain ; how He turned aside the arrows of the savages ; 
how He sent corn to His children when they were famish- 
ing ; how He preserved them alive on the dangerous sea ; 
how He brought them to their habitation ; how by a pesti- 
lence He destroyed the native inhabitants to make room for 
His people ; I say, if the Puritan Fathers had written the true 
history of their minds as well as of the occurrences around 
them, the name of God would appear in every sentence. 
They recognized His presence as assuredly as if He went 
before them in a pillar of cloud or of fire. And if the 
history of our late war were written, truly giving a history 
of the faith of the people, God's hand would be visible. 

The Old Testament history is entirely true — true to the 
times, true to the faith of the people ; and I am glad to 
believe that their faith in the superintending care of a 
Divine Providence was but little, if any more ardent than 



5Q6 APPENDIX. 

is the faith of the people of America to-day ; and this 
earnest faith in God and his providence is the great safe- 
guard of our liberties. The Old Testament teaches, then? 
that there is a God — one — a spirit. It tells us how we 
may pour out our souls in prayer and worship. 

" The heavens declare the glor}'- of God; 
And the firmament showeth his handiwork. 
Daj' unto day uttereth speech, 
And night unto night showeth knowledge, 
There is no speech nor language, 
Where their voice is not heard. 
Their line is gone out through all the earth, 
And their words to the end of the world. 
In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, 
And rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 
His going forth is from the end of the heaven, 
And his circuit unto the ends of it: 
And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. 
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul : 
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: 
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: 
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 
More to be desired are they than gold. 
Yea, than much fine gold: 
Sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb. 
Moreover, by them is thy servant warned : 
And in keeping of them there is great reward. 
Who can understand his errors ? 
Cleanse thou me from secret faults. 
Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins ; 
Let them not have dominion over me: 
Then shall I be upright, 

And I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 
Let the words of my mouth, 
And the meditation of mj^ heart, 
Be acceptable in thy sight, Lord, 
My strength and my redeemer! " 



APPENDIX. 567 



MY DEAR FRIEND : — 

The New Testament is an expression of this one thought 
or command, 

" BE LIKE GOD ; " 

and all that is written therein is only to show us how we 
may be like God. The most noted of the infidel philoso- 
phers admitted that " Jesus Christ lived and died like a 
God." He came as the " great example ; " and you can- 
not well deny that to follow Him and be as He was, one 
must become as nearly perfect as it is possible for man to 
be. It is all the same, though you class the New Testa- 
ment amongst fictions, provided the great thought revealed 
therein be true. But the question will arise. Who could 
have invented such a fiction ? Plato, it is true, tried to 
draw the outlines of the character of a perfect man, but 
he never conceived so grand a conception, never so sub- 
lime a model, as is presented in the life and example and 
precepts of Jesus Christ. You exclaim when looking upon 
an excellent production of art, " It is divine ! " Do you, 
when you contemplate the life and character of Jesus, ex- 
claim, " It is a fiction ; it is a lie ! " Is it not as reasonable 
to suppose that the " man Christ Jesus " actually did exist, 
as the Bible says, as to fancy that somebody was wise 
enough to conceive of so perfect a man ? We have as good 
reason to believe the history of Christ, as we have to be- 
lieve in any history ; and if Christ never existed, Alexan- 
der the Great never existed, and all history is false. 

The New Testament, in teaching us how to be like God, 
reveals a religion, and when I speak of religion, I do not 
mean a creed ; I do not mean anything that is assented to 
by the intellect. A belief in the doctrine of a future 
state, and angels and demons, and heaven and hell ; dam- 
nation, salvation, or purgatory, is no more religion in my 
opinion, than the belief is religion, that the planet Jupiter 
is inhabited ; the sun an opaque body ; the milky way clus- 



568 APPENDIX. 

ters of stars : or any other knowledge, theory, or opinion of 
the mind. The assent of the intellect to the truth of any 
demonstration of reason or philosophy, is not religion. 
Religion has its abode in the heart ; it is love — love of God, 
and love of God's creatures. My belief is that there is in 
the mind of man a religious faculty. This faculty may 
remain in a dormant state during the man's whole life ; 
but without the development and habitual exercise of this 
faculty, no man can ever become truly good, or truly 
happy. His soul must remain, as it were, cold and melan- 
choly. But when the " love of God is shed abroad in the 
heart " the soul is filled with genial warmth, and the man 
is happy, though sick in hospital, as I have shown. A man 
can with as good reason argue that there exists no such 
feeling as love of wife and children, as to argue that there 
is no religion. Religion is a happy reality to the good 
man ; and blessed is he that hath enkindled and keeps 
brightly burning, the divine flame in his heart. This is 
that " peace of God which passeth all understanding,'' of 
which so much was said in my first letter. 

To be like God, then, is to be like his Son, and to be like 
his Son is to " go about doing good." Faith is enjoined, 
but more particularly " good works." '^' Thou belie vest that 
there is one God ; thou doest well : the devils also believe, 
and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith 
without works is dead." "For as die body without the 
spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." .... 
" Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father 
is this : to visit the fatherless and widows in their afflic- 
tion, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." 

The following are some of the precepts of the New Tes- 
tament : — 

" Flee also youthful lusts ; but follow righteousness, 
faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out 
of a pure heart." 



APPENDIX. 569 

" See that none render evil for evil unto any man ; but 
ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and 
to all men." 

" Pray without ceasing." 

" Rejoice evermore." 

" Abstain from all appearance of evil, and the very God 
of peace sanctify you wholly." 

" The Lord make you to increase and abound in love 
one toward another, and toward all men, to the end he may 
establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God." 

" Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are 
honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are 
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are 
of good report ; if there be any virtue, if there be any 
praise, think on these things." 

" All the law is fulfilled in one word, even this : Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 

" But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write 
to you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one 
another." 

" Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." 

" Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he 
shall lift you up." 

" Beloved, let us love one another ; for love is of God, 
and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth 
God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God ; for God is 
love." 

Are not these precepts true and good ? If true, then it 
is our duty to love and worship God, striving always to do 
good and be good. If we perform this duty of prayer and 
worship, we shall be inclined to love this Bible. It tells us 
all about God ; it says He is love. It tells us to be meek ; to 
follow Christ ; " go about doing good ; " love our neighbor 
as ourself ; feed the hungry, and clothe the naked. There 
is nothing good in morals that was ever taught by philoso- 



570 APPENDIX. 

phers, that is not taught in the New Testament. It is cer- 
tainly the best book that ever was written ; the best adapted 
for reh'gious and moral instruction. You cannot find a sub- 
stitute for it that can possibly come near equaling it in 
excellence. Whether divine or not, it contains all the 
light there is. It is the sum of all reason, and the perfec- 
tion of all knowledge. It is a book of truth ; and truth is 
of God, for God is truth. It is a book of love ; and love 
is of God, for God is love. It is a precious gift from 
some source, and it is from God ; for all good comes from 
Him. How foolish it is to say, " I know the teachings of 
the Bible are true ; but I cannot believe that they came 
by 'inspiration from God.' I know that two times two is 
four ; but I cannot believe that four equals two times two ;" 
as if all truth comes not by inspiration from God. Truth 
is the breath of God. 

" I know," you say, " that the New Testament teaches 
good morals. It tells us that we ought to be good, and it 
tells us how to be good ; but then we see so many differ- 
ent sects that pretend to derive their dogmas from that 
Book, and they differ so much, I could never decide which 
sect had the truth on its side. I could, in short, never 
make up my mind which church to join." 

I think I have answered this objection, if it is true that 
religion does not consist of dogmas of belief, but of love. 
There are many sects, I know, differing about doctrines, 
but they all agree in believing that the true Christian must 
love God and man. " Love and good works " is the uni- 
versal Christian creed. So there is really only one body 
of Christians, but many members. They are all followers 
of Christ — Greek, Roman, and Saxon; for these are 
really the three grand divisions of the Christian world, 
the trinity united in one — the Church of Christ. These 
three are one in my estimation ; for my heart is with true 
worshippers everywhere. 

Yes, every church in which God is devoutly worshipped 



APPENDIX. 571 

I wish I were a worthy member of; for wherever God is 
glorified, and Christ is received as the great example, there 
my heart is. To the voice of their supplications and 
thanksgivings I would say. Amen. Yet God does not re- 
gard churches or congregations, but individuals only. He 
judges men, and they must individually give an account to 
God. So let me start alone after the Saviour, if there is 
no church that will receive me. If I live the life of the 
righteous, I shall do well. I love all denominations of 
Christians, and in whatever place of worship I am, my de- 
sire is to be devoted to God, to be a true Christian, and I 
will not judge others. I think nothing is essential but 
" prayer, supplication, and giving of thanks " to God ; and 
also " they who believe in God should be careful to maintain 
good works." To follow after the example of the Saviour 
is a duty that we owe to God and to the world ; and to a 
virtuous mind duty is the highest motive. 

I have endeavored to exhibit the course of reasoning 
that has led me to embrace Christianity. If there is any 
better religion in the world than the Christian religion, I 
have never heard of it. If there is a more perfect exam- 
ple of a perfect man than Jesus Christ, I am in the dark 
in regard to it. The millions of devoted men and women 
that have passed their lives in the service of God, and in 
performing deeds of Christian charity^ were neither foolish 
nor insane. If they were, may we be like them ; for such 
foolishness and insanity are better than worldly wisdom. I 
would rather be John Bunyan than Thomas Paine. 



TO 

LONGFELLOW, BRYANT, AND WHITTIER. 



While I behold the rushing tide of life 

Advancing westward, covering all this land, 

The rising cities and increasing wealth, 

School-houses built and churches numberless, — 

A land the richest in the fertile world, 

The glorious garden of the peopled earth, 

Budding, blossoming like the lovely rose, — 

I ask myself, What will this country be 

When Time has given his hand to help it up? 

What must it be in distant days to come ? 

The human heart forever is the same ; 

And Liberty 's the mother of great men. 

The future years will yet eclipse the past ; 

And better men than e'er our world has known 

Will dwell upon and bless this goodly land. 

True manhood is true thought, and better thoughts 

To-day have bitth, than e'er were born before. 

Our country 's the embodiment of thought; 

The great republic is a mighty thought ; 

And human freedom 's but a glorious thought; 

Equality of man a sublime thought. 

God brought our Pilgrim sires to Plymouth Kock ; 

But they were animated with high thought : 

That thoi;ght is the Republic purified — 

The holiest empire on the face of earth, 

Where manhood 's honored as of mighty worth. 

Our Pilgrim sires were earnest men indeed: 

In gayety and frivolous pursuits 

No moments of their lives were occupied; 

They felt that for high purpose they were born. 

Ours is a land of earnest, active men. 



APPENDIX. 573 

On fields of carnage, battling for a thought, 

How many earnest men have shed their blood? 

So Warren fell, and Jasper, and DeKalb; 

And Lincoln died a martyr to a thought. 

The men that live to benefit the world 

Are earnest, thoughtful, and devoted men. 

mighty land, through which majestic flows 

The Mississippi onward to the gulf, 

My native country, truly thee I love! 

Forever in my mind my country dwells; 

Her good the aim and object of my verse. 

For her an ever earnest life I live. 

And only earnest words flow from my lips. 

Whate'er of wisdom the old world has shown, 

We do not disregard. We claim the names 

Of Homer, Virgil, Milton, Shakespeare, Pope, 

Spenser, Dante, and Tasso, as our own 

By fair inheritance. They are the world's. 

They are great teachers ; let us learn of them. 

Yet must our poems onl}' echoes be? 

Or should they spring up from this richer soil 

With strength and beauty of peculiar kind? 

As is our country, so our verse should be: 

The Mississippi in resistless strength; 

The Rocky Mountains in sublimit}' ; 

The lakes appear in its transparency; 

The forests, prairies, and Niagara 

All mirrored in the true American song. , 

Not only thus will Nature's form appear, 

But the Republic will be mirrored, too. 

The Pilgrim Fathers on New England's shore 

lu all their earnest, godlike character. 

American verse shows not the cavalier, — 

Shows not the gay, voluptuous cavalier. 

0, honored, courteous Longfellow, thy name, 

Radiant and lovely like the morning-star, 

Will shine forever in our firmament. 

But virtue is the test; no gaping crowd 

Cheers the licentious poet, though a "lord;" 

"Lord Beelzebub has stooped to write a book; 

O, how mellifluent flows his honeyed verse — 

Truly Byronic, every line and word — 

A noble book, a second Don Juan; 

'Tis perfect, too, in measure; not a fault 

In all its texture and its nicest points." 

But poisonous as the bite of deadliest asp; 

'Tis written just to draw men down to hell. 



574 APPENDIX. 

Lord Beelzebub! a noble lord indeed! 

And noble critics who ignore the thought, 

And name him " poet " who corrupts mankind. 

The poet is a prophet sent from God 

To interpret Nature, and instruct the world. 

As God inspires, the poet speaks to men. 

Bryant, our countiy's venerable bard. 

Remotest ages will extol thy name! 

What God inspires, I say, the poet writes — 

The substance of true poetry 's the thought ; 

The words the glitter only of the thought. 

The thought impure, the coin is counterfeit, 

And only fools take it for virgin gold. 

Teach me, God, to strike subliraest chords. 

Awakening holy thoughts in youthful minds. 

How mightj^ and how wonderful is thought! 

The universe is but a thought of God; 

The works of art, the enabodied thoughts of men. 

Behold the power of thought: In early times 

When all the world was but a wilderness. 

And beasts were slain with clubs, by strength of arm. 

The thought arose, " The strong may rule the weak." 

That thought subdued the world to slavery! 

But there appeared in Bethlehem a star; 

An humble child was born, " the Word made flesh," 

The brotherhood of man made known to men. 

For more than eighteen hundred years the " Word" 

Has combated with Sin, and Death, and Hell — 

But God is God, and kings shall cease to be ! 

The Puritan arose — a follower 

Of Jesus in the thought that " vian is man.^'' 

That thought victorious at Marston Moor; 

The same transferred across the Atlantic tide, 

Grew in the wilderness a mighty tree; 

Its branches yet shall shelter all the world. 

The embodiment in words of this great thought, 

Emancipated from the awe of power. 

And offering homage only unto God, 

Is highest office of American verse; 

O, Whittier, divinely sweet thy strains! 

Des Moines, October 5, 1868. 



FEB 13 1902 



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